Legend had it that the pagoda is the rendezvous and interaction of Indian Buddhism and ancient Vietnamese religion. An Indian monk named Khaudalah came, built a pagoda on this land and spread his Buddhism. Basing on the fact, the first Buddhist center of the country was established.
However, until the 4th Peace year (1057) the Phat Tich pagoda been built. In 1066, King Ly Thanh Tong commanded to build a high tower and placed inside it a Buddhist statue made of monolithic stone and gilded. Because Phat Tich is one of the Buddhist centers and also has beautiful landscape, the kings of Ly and Tran dynasties often visited the place... In the Le dynasty (1686), the pagoda was re-built in a larger scale and renamed into Van Phuc pagoda. The ground was a colorful garden of peony flowers. On the right was the shrine of Lady Tran Thi Ngoc Am, who was the highest imperial concubine of Lord Trinh Trang and became a nun in this pagoda. This woman not only had a great deed in the renovation of the pagoda but also donated her money and built the temple with the people of 13 hamlets in the area. On the left of the pagoda is the statue of a Buddha died in 1644. Behind the pagoda is the area of towers including 39 towers built of brick and stone.
The precious relics
In the fight against French invaders (1947), the pagoda was nearly destroyed and then re-built temporarily to shelter valuable vestiges. In 1949-1951, archaeologists had found many ancient engraved stone works and brought them to display in the National Museum of History. The destruction of the wars has made the pagoda different, only the Buddhist statue remains. This is a perfect engraved work of the Ly dynasty. The statue depicts a meditation pose on Buddha's throne. Totally, the statue and the stone plat- form are about 2m high. The platform has two parts: the bottom and the lotus-shaped support. The octagonal bottom includes five stories: the ground closet story is plain; the second and third stories are carved double wave layers; the fourth and fifth stories are engraved a couple of "worm-shaped dragons" with long hair (the characteristics of dragons in Ly dynasty) connecting with each other and running around the bottom. The lotus-shaped support has 15 blooming big wings; each lotus wing is engraved a couple of dragons Sitting in front of a Buddha meditating on a shining lotus-shaped throne. Besides the precious Buddha statue, the pagoda also preserves other relics such as: a stone pillar engraved lotus (each lotus has a sitting couple of dragons), a music band of "angels" playing traditional musical instruments in order to honor Buddhism. A statue of human body and bird head (the divine Kinnaras bird) is playing traditional drums. The special ones are the lines of big stone animals (rhinoceros, buffalo, elephant, lion ...) kneeing symmetrically in front of the pagoda. These stone animals sit on stone platforms with lotus (Urn high and 1.5-1.8m long on average). On the body of the lion, there are patterns symbolizing for the stars in the sky. These sacred animals are created in the kneeing poses and imply a profound spirit of Buddhism. All the ancient stone relics are the sophisticated works of artisans of the Ly dynasty.
Author Resource:-
For more travel infomation please visit Viet Vision Travel website.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlespawner.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
