Traces of the ancient citadel
Before 1960, Giong Thanh Pagoda was located in the middle of a lonely field, on the right side of Cai Vung canal. The road to the pagoda had to go through a dirt road with many large shady trees on both sides. At that time, the local people considered the pagoda a scenic spot of Tan Chau. Although it was named Long Hung Tu, it was not widely known. People knew it better by the name Giong Thanh because the pagoda was located right on the old citadel foundation. According to the Minh Mang land register in 1836, in Long Son village there were 2 land plots that established a citadel made of earth. Later, people discovered several relics such as the citadel moat and the flagpole foundation around the pagoda.
Giong Thanh Pagoda is also known as Long Hung ancient pagoda.
History records that in 1833, King Minh Mang ordered Governor Ngo Ba Nhan to choose a location to build a citadel. When Ngo Ba Nhan drew a map and presented it, the king discussed with his officials that Long Son village was located upstream, had a high terrain, had Tien and Hau rivers on both sides, and was in a dangerous position, so they asked to build a citadel here to facilitate border guarding. The king approved. But in 1835, the king changed his mind, thinking that Chau Doc citadel was strong enough to resist the enemy, and building a citadel in Long Son was not urgent. Therefore, the construction of the citadel was left unfinished.
According to researcher Nguyen Huu Hiep, during the Gia Long period, Long Son was one of the villages belonging to Vinh Trinh commune, Vinh An district, Tan Thanh prefecture, Vinh Thanh town. In 1832, An Giang province was officially established, Vinh An district was cut off from the upper part, using Cai Tau Thuong canal as the boundary. The upper part followed the right bank of Tien river to the Khmer border, belonging to Dong Xuyen district, Long Son village was chosen as the place to set up the headquarters of this district.
To protect the capital, the Nguyen Dynasty generals mobilized militia to dig trenches and build walls around it. The trace of Giong Thanh is a high mound of earth built around the citadel of the old Dong Xuyen district capital, a mound of earth built by people, not a naturally deposited mound of sand.
And the magnificent temple
From the hermitage of the Tran family, the ancestors of Long Son village, today Giong Thanh is a large pagoda in Tan Chau town. According to legend, the Tran family originated from the Central region and had connections with the Tay Son dynasty. After the internal turmoil of the Tay Son dynasty, to escape, their descendants fled here to reclaim land. Around 1875, the Tran family expanded the pagoda and invited monk Minh Ly of the Lam Te Zen sect to preside over it. But at that time, it was just a bamboo and leaf pagoda with the gate facing west. Monk Minh Ly's tower is still at the pagoda, said monk Thich Tri Tan.
Giong Thanh Pagoda has half Indian, half Western architecture.
Later, in the Tran family, there was a village chief named Tran Chanh Thi who donated an additional piece of land and built a tiled roofed pagoda with the gate facing east. From 1927, the pagoda was presided over by monk Nhu Dien. According to local historical documents, at this time in Long Son village, there was an organization called Thien Dia Hoi, popularly known as the "Keo Xanh, Keo Vang" association, which gathered patriots against French colonialism. Monk Nhu Dien joined this organization and gathered many people to join.
A few years later, the number of followers visiting the temple increased. Seeing that the temple was old and cramped, the monk asked the government for permission to raise money for its renovation. Due to the influence of monk Nhu Dien, the people in Tan Chau market and the general public contributed a lot of money to rebuild the temple.
Also during this period, Mr. Pho Bang Nguyen Sinh Huy came to stay at the pagoda for a while. He went during the day and returned at night, but his behavior is unknown. After a while, because he was being watched, he moved to Cao Lanh to live, and then passed away there. Giong Thanh Pagoda still preserves a bed where Mr. Pho Bang used to sleep and records the time he stayed at the pagoda on a stone stele erected in the front yard.
After the monk Nhu Dien passed away, the next abbot was monk Chon Nhu. This monk was also a member of the Tran family, his secular name was Tran Huu Vi. During the monk's tenure, Giong Thanh pagoda continued to be built and completed. The largest renovation was in 1970, many structures still exist today.
Giong Thanh Pagoda is a hybrid of half Indian and half Western architectural styles, consisting of three compartments: the main hall, the lecture hall and the ancestral hall. Connecting the main hall and the ancestral hall are two rows of eastern and western corridors, with a lake in the middle for decoration and a quiet courtyard for light and ventilation. This area is also built in a modern architectural style. The column system with arched windows surrounds the columns, with French-style decorative motifs on the tops. The columns in the main hall are all made of wood, painted with dragons, and arranged with many gold-plated parallel sentences.
The temple roof is covered with Western tiles. On the roof of the temple are 3 towers. The towers on both sides are shaped like an inverted funnel, the roof is decorated with many motifs and patterns. The central tower has 2 floors, the top is also shaped like an inverted funnel, but the corners are rounded in the style of an onion dome. Inside the tower, the upper floor houses a statue of the infant Buddha, the lower floor is a meditating Buddha. These towers are the highlight that gives the temple the architectural style of Indian temples.
The main hall is decorated with statues of Buddha Sakyamuni, Amitabha, Guanyin, the Ten Kings of Hell, the North and South Poles, etc. The lecture hall has an altar for the Mother Goddess, and the ancestral hall has tablets to worship the abbots of the pagoda and preserves some relics, including the bed of the Vice-Chancellor. (to be continued)
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dau-xua-mo-coi-dat-phuong-nam-dau-vet-xua-o-giong-thanh-185241102204029785.htm
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