Van Nien Pagoda is located on the western shore of West Lake, with a side gate address of 364 Lac Long Quan Street, Tay Ho District, Hanoi City. Van Nien Pagoda, formerly known as Van Tue, was built in the 11th century under the Ly Dynasty, meaning it is now more than 1.000 years old.
Van Nien Pagoda is not too large, but located near West Lake so the landscape is airy and the air is fresh. This is a place that attracts a large number of people and tourists to worship and sightsee.
After more than 1.000 years of existence, with many restorations and embellishments, the pagoda is still a wooden work of art with bold patterns and motifs of Eastern culture.
The pagoda worships Buddha and the Mother Goddess, including 5 compartments and 3 security compartments. The houses are built facing the East according to the layout including three gates, main pagoda, temple, monk's house, and auxiliary houses. Surrounding the architecture is a garden of ancient trees, helping to enhance the beauty and tranquility of the meditation gate, creating an overall unique cultural and artistic relic.
On the roof of the pagoda, there are three embossed seals "Van Nien Tu".
The three-entrance gate, front hall, ancestral house, guest house, Guan Yin building... use the traditional material of wood. Traditional patterns on columns, rafters... are meticulously carved, using familiar Vietnamese decorative themes such as Tu Linh and Tu Quy.
Inside the pagoda, there are 46 round statues, including 26 Buddha statues, 20 Mother Goddess statues, and Patriarch statues. Some statues date back to the Le Trung Hung period (17th and 18th centuries) and some date back to the Nguyen dynasty. In addition to the value of Buddhist architecture, the pagoda also preserves collections with cultural and historical value such as the deity ordination ceremony of the Le and Tay Son dynasties, bronze bells from the Nguyen dynasty... The "Van Nien Tu" bronze bell Chung" was cast during the reign of King Gia Long (1802 - 1820), with an inscription describing Van Nien Pagoda as a majestic ancient site in the west of Thang Long capital.
Van Nien Pagoda was ranked a national architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in 1996.
In 2010, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, Van Nien Pagoda held a burial ceremony and inaugurated the Emerald Buddha Palace. The Shakyamuni Buddha statue is carved from a rare block of natural jade from Myanmar, 1.3m tall and weighs 600kg. The sacred jade Buddha statue is considered "unique" in Vietnam.
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