Bo Da Pagoda is one of the largest Buddhist centers of the Truc Lam Zen sect.
Bo Da pagoda relic area is a famous ancient temple of Kinh Bac region, in the past administrative territory of Tien Son commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province.
The exact name of the pagoda is Quan Am pagoda on Bo Da mountain or Bo Da Son Quan Am Son Tu, called Bo pagoda or Tu An Tu for short, located in a favorable position in feng shui, to the north of the foothills of Phuong mountain. Hoang belongs to Bo Da mountain range, far away is the poetic Cau River.
The remaining physical traces and bibliographies show that the pagoda dates from the Ly Dynasty and was rebuilt under the reign of King Le Du Tong. Currently, the Bo Da pagoda relic area includes many large and small items in which there are 4 main categories, which are Cao Pagoda, Tam Duc am, Tu An Pagoda, Garden Tower.
Tu An is one of the main items of the Bo Da pagoda relic site. The pagoda was built in the reign of King Le Du Tong (18th century) and was restored and embellished in the Nguyen Dynasty (19th-XX centuries) and in recent years.
At present, Bo Da Pagoda is also home to more than 40 Buddha statues, most of which are ancient Buddhas of the Le (eighteenth century) and Nguyen (nineteenth century) dynasties. There are also statues decorated according to Confucianism, Taoism and indigenous folk beliefs.
Legend has it that during the reign of King Le Du Tong, there was a mandarin named Pham Kim Hung from Binh Vong village, Thuong Phuc district, Ha Tay (now in Thuong Tin district, Hanoi city), after returning to his hometown to settle down, he Traveling to this land of Bo Da, listening to the teachings of the high monks and when he attained enlightenment, he brought all the perks he received during his time as a mandarin to restore and expand the monument and chose this as a training place. monks of the Lam Te Zen sect.
The pagoda was built with materials: fired bricks, tiles, cottage earthenware, the walls are made of very unique earth. The walls, gates and some other structures were built entirely of rammed earth in the main way.
The temple garden grows traditional fruit trees and seasonal crops. In addition to the material value of the relic, since ancient times, Bo Da pagoda garden has been the center of people’s religious activities.
Bo Da pagoda tower garden is one of the most beautiful and largest tower gardens in the country, including 110 towers and tombs of different sizes.
In which, there are 97 ancient towers with a history of hundreds of years, where the ashes of 1214 Buddhist monks and nuns of the Lam Te Zen sect are stored throughout the country.
The towers are all built of brick and stone using the traditional technique of molasses lime.
Panoramic view of Bo Da pagoda tower garden.
The tomb towers are lined up, layered and built according to the strict rules of Zen Buddhism.
Each tree also buried at least 4 corpses to 26 corpses, a total of 1214 bodies. Among the three genealogical books in Chinese, it is clearly written: “Only those of the Son Mon sect can be buried in the tower garden, the monk’s tower has an orange vase on the top, the nun’s tower has flowers on the top. lotus.
One of the unique differences in the tower garden that we see is: All towers have arched doors looking to the northeast.
In addition to its architectural and aesthetic values, Bo Da Pagoda today also preserves a treasure of Han Nom heritage in many forms and the Buddhist scriptures are one of the oldest woodcarving scriptures in Vietnam with more than 10 years of history. 2000 woodblocks, of great significance for scientific research.
