The organizer of the Third Mount Wutai Buddhist Festival announced here Friday that the religious gala is due to open on Aug. 27 and it is to last for one month.

The organizer, the provincial religious bureau of Shanxi Province, said during the festival there will be a grand prayer in the name of world peace and a forum to be attended by Buddhist monks and scholars from home and abroad.

The festival is aimed to display the history of Mount Wutai's Buddhist culture and promote international exchange and cooperation in the fields of Buddhist culture and arts.

Mount Wutai, a major Buddhist resort in China, is located in Shanxi, north China, and it is one of the five best-known Buddhist places in the world.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2006)