The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Ho Chi Minh City chapter held a commemoration ceremony on Thursday to honor Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc, who burned himself to death there in 1963 to protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the US-backed South Vietnamese administration.The memorial service was held at the Monument of Thich Quang Duc in District 3, with the participation of many Buddhist dignitaries and followers, standing deputy secretary of the city Party Committee Nguyen Van Dua, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan, and many other officials.Addressing the ceremony, Most Venerable Thich Tri Quang, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Executive Board, said, “The Bodhisattva has left for the Vietnamese nation in particular, and humankind in general, a sacred message about the value and significance of life – which are respect, equality, solidarity, harmony, freedom and happiness.”The Most Venerable also said the self-immolation sparked a sense of solidarity among Buddhists nationwide and brought the fight for religious equality and freedom to a success in 1963.As explained in the ceremony, Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc was born as Lam Van Tuat in Van Khanh commune, Van Ninh district, in the central province of Khanh Hoa in 1897.On June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc soaked himself in petrol, struck a match and set himself on fire at the intersection of Phan Dinh Phung boulevard (now Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street) and Le Van Duyet Street (now Cach Mang Thang Tam Street), in the witness of 800 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers who had joined a procession that stopped at that location. The Most Venerable’s body was later re-cremated at 4,000 degree Celsius, but his heart did not burn and remained intact. Therefore, the heart was considered to be holy and placed in a glass chalice in Xa Loi Pagoda.Thich Quang Duc was honored as a Bodhisattva in 1964 after the unified VBS was established.