40 km from Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, Bo Da Pagoda is the oldest and most unique pagoda in Kinh Bac region, located on Phuong Hoang mountain (Bo Da mountain) in Van Ha ward ( Bac Ninh province).
This was once the second largest religious center after Vinh Nghiem Pagoda and is an important, typical relic related to the revival and integration period of Truc Lam Buddhism.
The temple has unique architecture
Bo Da Pagoda dates back to the Ly Dynasty, flourished under the Tran Dynasty, and especially in the early 18th century, the abbot of the pagoda, Pham Kim Hung, restored and expanded it, turning Bo Da into a major Buddhist center.
The pagoda has an area of about 52,000 m2 divided into three distinct areas: the garden, the inner temple area and the tower garden. Through the vicissitudes of history, Bo Da pagoda still preserves quite intact the traditional ancient Vietnamese architecture as well as many valuable documents, artifacts and antiques of great value in terms of culture, history, architecture and fine arts.
Venerable Tu Tuc Vinh, abbot of Bo Da pagoda, said that this place used to be one of the major Buddhist centers of the Lam Te Zen sect. This place used to be a school for hundreds of monks, nuns, and Buddhists from many localities in the North. The pagoda has a rare combination of worship, worshiping the Three Religions with the same origin, and worshiping Thach Linh Than Tuong and Truc Lam Tam To, demonstrating the cultural and religious harmony of the ancient Vietnamese people.
Nestled in the beautiful landscape of Kinh Bac region, Bo Da Pagoda attracts visitors with its rustic, mysterious and ancient beauty. The first highlight when setting foot in Bo Da Pagoda is the unique earthen wall system. Not built with bricks or stones like many other places, the pagoda wall is completely made of rammed earth, red gravel and broken pottery pieces from the neighboring Tho Ha pottery village. This construction technique helps create a solid wall but still retains a rustic, ancient look, blending with the natural landscape around Phuong Hoang mountain.
Many of the pagoda's structures still retain their original traditional Vietnamese architectural features. (Photo: Danh Lam/VNA)
Bo Da Pagoda has a unique architecture, different from other traditional pagodas. The pagoda has 5 main relic clusters including: Tu An Pagoda, Tam Duc Hermitage, Cao Pagoda, Tower Garden and Temple Pond. Each cluster has its own historical and religious value. In particular, Tu An Pagoda consists of 16 units with 92 interconnected rooms, horizontal and vertical buildings, including the Tam Bao, 2 corridors, the front hall, the ancestral house, the sutra attic, the lecture hall, the abbot's house, the dharma house, the author's house, the guest house, the nuns' house, the train station... and auxiliary works with the architectural style of "inside communication, outside closure", the inside is open, the outside is discreetly covered by earthen walls and thick bamboo groves. This structure not only has architectural significance but also expresses the Buddhist ideology that the outside is the impermanent world , the inside is the tranquility of the spirit.
Tam Duc Hermitage was built halfway up Phuong Hoang Mountain, behind Tu An Pagoda, with a Nhat-shaped architecture consisting of 5 compartments, the 3 middle compartments were built in a 2-story overlapping roof style. Cao Pagoda is located behind Tam Duc Hermitage, with a vertical Nhat-shaped architecture, with a dome roof. The front wall and roof are shaped like a throne, clearly showing the architecture of the Nguyen Dynasty (19th century). Ao Mieu is also called Ha Temple, worshiping Thach Linh Than Tuong.
The temple holds many Vietnamese records
Not only famous for its unique architecture, Bo Da Pagoda is also famous for two Buddhist records including the largest tower garden in Vietnam and the oldest set of Buddhist scriptures in Vietnam.
The Bo Da Pagoda Tower Garden is located on the slope of Phoenix Mountain with an area of nearly 8,000 square meters. There are about 110 large and small towers and tombs; of which 97 are hundreds of years old, burying the ashes and relics of more than 1,200 monks and nuns of the Lam Te Zen sect throughout the country.
According to Venerable Tu Tuc Vinh, Abbot of Bo Da Pagoda, the tomb tower architecture in the garden is mostly 3-4 storey towers, 3-5m high; the founder's tower is larger and more massive. These towers are built with bricks, mountain stones, mortar from molasses and paper pulp, creating a solid and sustainable structure over many centuries. The tower garden was recognized as a special national historical-architectural relic in 2016. This is the largest and most beautiful outdoor tower garden in Vietnam. The tower garden is not only a sacred cemetery but also an architectural and stone sculpture museum, reflecting the history of a Zen sect over many centuries.
Bo Da Pagoda still preserves a set of Buddhist scriptures carved on fig wood, considered the oldest of the Lam Te Zen sect. (Photo: Danh Lam/VNA)
Along with the tower garden, Bo Da Pagoda also preserves the oldest and most valuable Buddhist wooden blocks in Vietnam, recognized as a National Treasure in 2017. The wooden blocks with nearly 2,000 panels were carved by Lam Te Zen masters about 300 years ago during the reign of King Le Canh Hung. All the wooden blocks are carved from Thi wood, a type of wood that is both flexible and durable, and can last up to 1,200 years.
Up to now, the woodblocks are still quite intact with engravings in Chinese, Nom, and Sanskrit characters. The large-sized wooden blocks are still printed, engraved with notes and used to perform rituals in temples. On those woodblocks, the ancients left their mark through the content, lines, motifs, and skillful and sophisticated shapes, reflecting the profound philosophical thoughts of Buddhism in general and the Lam Te Zen sect in particular. Prominent among them are the carvings of Buddha Tathagata, Buddha Shakyamuni sitting on a lotus pedestal, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and Arhats...
The use of Nom script - a type of script created by the Vietnamese people - not only demonstrates the nation's sense of independence and autonomy in the process of cultural assimilation but also marks the development of Vietnamese writing. The Buddhist value and ideology of the woodblocks are highly appreciated by experts, because they reflect the profound philosophy of Buddhism in general and the Lam Te Zen sect in particular.
If the sutras at Vinh Nghiem pagoda belong to the Mahayana school and some copies carry the ideology of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect, the sutras carved at Bo Da pagoda mainly talk about Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and the precepts.
Ms. Phung Thi Mai Anh, Director of Bac Ninh Museum 1, assessed that Bo Da Pagoda is not only a religious structure but also a "living museum" of Buddhist culture, which deeply reflects the harmony between beliefs, architectural art and spiritual life of Vietnamese people. This is a heritage that needs to be preserved sustainably, promoting its value in accordance with its inherent position in the flow of national history and culture.
Bo Da Pagoda is gradually becoming a typical destination in the spiritual-cultural tourism journey of Kinh Bac region; actively contributing to socio -economic development, improving people's lives associated with preserving national cultural identity./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/bai-2-chua-bo-da-dai-danh-lam-co-tu-noi-tieng-vung-kinh-bac-post1051935.vnp
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