Although the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm, many attendees arrived hours earlier to queue under the sweltering sun, with temperatures exceeding 34 degrees Celsius.

Organizers deployed youth volunteers to assist the elderly, children, and people with disabilities, while shaded waiting areas were arranged inside the pagoda grounds.

Security was tightened at the site.

Attendees were required to pass through checkpoints, leave mobile phones outside, and refrain from filming or photography inside the main hall.

Volunteers affixed access tags and provided gloves for participants during the veneration process.

Shortly before 3:00 pm, the first groups were allowed inside the main hall to view the relic.

Many emerged visibly moved, describing the experience as emotional and spiritually uplifting.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai, a Buddhist follower who flew from the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang, said she had been waiting since 11:00 am.

“I am deeply touched by the virtue and compassion of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc,” Mai told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“As a Vietnamese Buddhist, I feel proud to witness the relic and honor such a figure who stood for truth and peace.”

Crowds continued to arrive through the afternoon.

By 1:00 pm, large groups from Ho Chi Minh City and nearby provinces were lined up outside the temple gates.

Nguyen Thi Minh Trang, a local resident from Phu Nhuan District, said she and her husband had taken the day off to attend the veneration.

“Our family follows Buddhism and lives on Thich Quang Duc Street. I’ve told my children about the sacrifice he made,” she said.

Organizers said the veneration ceremony for the heart relic will run from Tuesday through Saturday, with morning sessions from 8:00 to 11:00 am and afternoon sessions from 1:30 to 5:30 pm.

Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire on June 11, 1963 at a busy Saigon intersection to protest the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese government’s crackdown on Buddhists.

His act drew international attention and remains a powerful symbol of self-sacrifice and spiritual conviction.

In a statement published by Giac Ngo Online newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Sangha, Most Venerable Thich Le Trang, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in Ho Chi Minh City and vice-chairman of the Vesak 2025 organizing committee, described the preserved heart relic as “a symbol of compassion and wisdom, embodying both Buddhist values and Vietnamese tradition.”

The ceremony had initially been scheduled for the previous Saturday, but the organizers announced a last-minute postponement, saying that “the right conditions had yet to come together.”