Visiting Dau Pagoda in Bac Ninh Province
DAU PAGODA - BAC NINH
1. Location of Dau Pagoda
Where is the Dau Pagoda?
About 30 km from
Hanoi, down on National Highway 5 to Phu Thi, then follow the National Highway
182 for about 12 km to reach Dau pagoda, also called Phap Van, Co Chau and Dien
Ung located on a high land in Thanh Khuong commune, Thuan Thanh district, Bac
Ninh province. It is the oldest pagoda in Vietnam built in 187 and completed in
226 in Dau area, Luy Lau, the pagoda is now nearly 2000 years old. Bac Ninh Dau
Pagoda is the origin of the worship of Tu Phap (Four Goddess namely Phap Van,
Phap Vu, Phap Loi, Phap Dien corresponding to the phenomena of clouds, wind,
thunder and lightning), this is a harmonious combination between folk beliefs and
Indian Buddhism, etc.
2. The architecture of Dau Pagoda
It’s an ancient pagoda,
from the entrance to the campus, also one of the leading sacred pagodas in
Vietnam. There are a lot of interesting stories related to works such as
stupas, goat statues, etc. Outside the pagoda door is a typical view of Vietnamese pagodas, street venders of “Kẹo
kéo” and rice cakes, making guests want to visit again.
Four rows of houses
designed in rectangles surrounding three main houses: Front House (“Tiền Đường”),
“Thiêu Hương” and “Thượng Điện”. Ho Phap statue, eight Kim Cuong statues are
located in the Front House. Cuu Long statue, Diem Vuong statue, Tam Chau and
Mac Dinh Chi statue are located in "Thiêu Hương". The statues of Ba Dau (Phap Van), Ba Dau (Phap Vu), and the
servants are located in “Thượng Điện”. The statues of Bo Tat, Tam The, Duc Ong and Thanh Tang are located in “Hậu Điện”. And there are many
other statues such as the monk statue of monk-ni-da-save-chi, 18 La Han statues
... This is a unique feature rarely seen in ancient Vietnamese temples.
Tourists will be
extremely impressed with a diverse system of Buddha statues here. Unlike
Statues in many other places, statues here seem to be close and familiar to human
life. Many statues look like they are listening, some look like they are
smiling. Visitors can study how each statue stands, its facial expressions,
eyes, corners of the mouth as if being incarnated.
Thap Bat La Han Statues
For tourists, the most
impressive point at Dau Pagoda may be the 17m high Hoa Phong tower located in
the middle of the pagoda courtyard. Hoa Phong tower was built with large bricks
of the past and hand-crafted to the level of old dark color of clay pots. In
1313, under the reign of King Tran Anh Tong, the former state of Mac Dinh Chi did
have the pagoda repaired and a 9-storey tower built but now only three stories
remained, with a height of about 17 meters but still full of majesty and
stability. .. The stone board with the word "Hoa Phong Thap" engraved
on the front of the second storey. The tower foot is in square shape with the
side length of 7cm. The lower storey has 4 arch doors. In the tower, there is a
bronze bell casted in 1793 and a gong casted in 1817. Four Thien Vuong statues of
1.6-m high were placed at four corners. In front of the tower, the right side
has a square stele erected in 1738, on the left there is a stone statue of 1.33
m long, 0.8 m high. These are the last remaining statues from the Han Dynasty.
3. Festival
Villages organize the
procession of Phap Van, Phap Vu, Phap Loi and Phap Dien statues from the pagodas
of their villages to Dau pagoda. In the festival, there are many folk games
such as water robbery, drum dance, sticks dance, lion dance. Following the
procession of statues are gongs, “long”, and g” drums ... all make the Dau
pagoda festival attracting a lot of tourists from every countries, an amazing festival.
The meaning of Dau
festival is to pray for the favorable rain and wind, which is the desire of
thousands of farmers. The beauty, traditional cultural values reflect the
diverse and rich religious life still preserved today.
At Dau Pagoda, there
are more than 100 statues of different kinds of worship. It is considered a
model of ancient sculpture art in Vietnam. Dau Pagoda is the pride of Kinh Bac.
Dau Pagoda is a place where the Kinh Bac people and tourists come to visit and
enjoy spiritual activities, and it was recognized to be historical site by the
government on April 28, 1962. In 2013, Dau Pagoda was honored to be a special
national monument. This is an ancient and quiet pagoda, suitable for those who
want to find a place to rest and relax after the chaos of life.
