Local people call Hoang An Pagoda Quang Ba Pagoda because now the pagoda belongs to Quang Ba village, Quang An ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi city.
The pagoda’s first name is “Bao An Tu”. Legend has it that the pagoda was built in the Ly Dynasty, when Zen master Ngo An (1019-1088) founded a temple to worship Buddha. In the 10th year of Vinh To (1628), the pagoda was built large. In the Le Dynasty, Princess Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tu, the daughter of Thai To Gia Du Emperor Nguyen Hoang, and the wife of Lord Thanh Do Vuong Trinh Trang (1623-1657) stood out to rebuild it, on a larger scale than before and the pagoda still kept. Originally named Bao An Tu, belonged to Quang Bo ward (Quang Ba), Vinh Thuan district, Phung Thien ward, Thang Long citadel.
In the year of Giap Than, the second Minh Menh year (1821), the king came to visit the pagoda and worship Buddha.
In the year of Tan Ox (1841), King Thieu Tri ascended the throne, the following year he took a tour of Bac Ha to visit the pagoda and renamed the pagoda as Hoang An. The king also gave 200 francs money to repair the temple because many places were dilapidated and sent maesters at the Academy to compose an epitaph to record this incident. After the pagoda was repaired, in 1884, the Thuong Thuong Thuong Army and Ha Ninh Governor Mai Cong Ngon offered money to cast a bronze statue of Amitabha Buddha. In 1923, the pagoda was greatly restored and made some wooden statues.
The pagoda is located in the middle of West Lake area, where there are poetic landscapes and architectural works, sculptures of high artistic and aesthetic value, such as wooden hammock doors with carved art with themes. upholding the philosophy of life and fine art, bronze statues and bells dating from the Le Dynasty, etc. Therefore, for a long time, Hoang An Pagoda has been a place of contemplation not only a desire to visit. worshiping place of a large number of Buddhist followers of Hanoi capital, but also an attractive tourist destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
Over a long period of history, Quang Ba Pagoda is both a place to worship Buddha, a place of worship, and a center of cultural and spiritual activities of a residential community. This is the burial place of many famous monks who had merit in the cause of struggle to defend the Fatherland and build the country. In which, Most Venerable Pham Ngoc Dat, alias Binh Luong passed away in Hanoi, was Uncle Ho’s benefactor during his period of secret activities in Thailand.
In early 1969, Uncle Ho visited the pagoda and visited a training class for monks who had contributed to the revolution.
During the resistance war against the French, the pagoda was one of the safe revolutionary bases of the Party. The monks and nuns of the temple have had the merit of raising and protecting the officials. The foundation of the pagoda’s ancestral house still has traces of a secret cellar, where revolutionary cadres took refuge. The high loft built next to the ancestral house is a very convenient place to observe when the officials come here to meet and are wholeheartedly helped by the monks.
During the anti-American era, the pagoda was the place where the Information troops were stationed.
Since the Ly Dynasty, Quang Ba Pagoda has been a scenic spot of the Thang Long citadel.
The overall surface of the pagoda now includes: garden, main pagoda, two strip dance houses, ancestral church, monk room, model church, tower garden. The architectural works of the pagoda are arranged harmoniously in a large and open space. The pagoda faces south, overlooking West Lake. The ancient folds of the pagoda are hidden under the green old trees, giving the pagoda more serenity and tranquility.
The pagoda has a “foreign interior” structure.
The five-compartment front hall, built in the style of a back wall, has a tiled roof, in the middle of the roof is embossed with the image of a tiger emblazoned with the sun. In front of the two passages, two pillars are built with the top of the pillar covered in the shape of a lotus bud.
The wall of the pagoda was built with mallet bricks of the XV-XVII centuries. The interior plan has six rows of round wooden pillars, placed on the smooth green stone legs. The roof support frame includes six sets of trusses. Because the truss is like “husband – second child”. The pagoda is covered with silk, the three middle compartments have a system of door panels, doors made of the “upper song – lower village” style. The architecture is simply smooth and closes. The floor is tiled with Bat Trang bricks.
The upper hall, a fold of three compartments, built vertically running to the back, has the style of the back wall, the roof is tiled, has four rows of wooden round pillars supporting the roof, the column is made of the style of “upper fall and lower challenge” placed on the rock. smooth green, the roof support frame consists of four sets of trusses made in the style of “stacking”, the floor is tiled with Bat Trang tiles.
The house is on either side of the upper palace, with each row of seven compartments built in the style of a back wall, with a tiled roof. Three gable compartments connected to the ancestral church are left empty to be used as a place to receive guests. The following four compartments were built closed to make room (the residence of the monks). The roof support trusses are made simple in the style of hitchhiking bridge trusses, the floor is tiled with Bat Trang tiles.
In the temple, there is a flower garden with many precious flowers such as black tea, rosemary, rose, peach, and kumquat in four seasons, giving off a sweet fragrance. In particular, there is a luxuriant bodhi tree planted in the garden.
The layout of the temple is as follows:
– First class: Statue of Tam The Buddha.
– Second class: Statue of Quan An Nam Hai.
– Third layer: Statue of Amitabha, on both sides are statues of Quan Am and The Tri.
– Fourth class: The set of statues of Hoa Nghiem Tam Thanh.
– Fifth class: Statue of Goddess of Mercy and Goddess of Mercy.
– Sixth class: Jade Emperor Statue.
– Seventh class: The Nine Dragons Court and the newborn Shakyamuni Buddha.
Quang Ba Pagoda still preserves a set of relics of high value in art history.
Thirty round statues are covered with splendid golden lacquer and elaborately and sophisticatedly crafted in art of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Among them is a very special statue of Quan Am Nam Hai, although the size of the statue is not very large. The statue has a pure face, wears a robe with many folds, is in a sitting meditation position, with his feet resting on his feet, stepping on a small lotus.
In the pagoda, there are still many precious artifacts: two bronze bells, one of which is the third Canh Hung era, under King Le Hien Tong (1743), 1.5m high, 80cm wide in diameter. The bell shoulder is engraved with four Chinese characters “Long An from the bell”, the bell body is divided into four zones representing the four seasons, on the body is engraved the bell text recording the success in casting the bell. The smaller bell is dated to the Nguyen Dynasty.
Thirty steles made of smooth green stone slabs. One plate was erected in the 21st year of Chinh Hoa (1700). In particular, there is a stele engraved with the image of a nun. Many people think that it is the image of Princess Ngoc Tu. The remaining steles are dated to the Nguyen Dynasty. The pagoda still retains many symbols and parallel sentences in Chinese characters.
Quang Ba Pagoda is a famous relic, a scenic spot of West Lake, classified by the State as a National Historical – Cultural Relic in Decision No. 1728-QD-BVH dated October 2, 1991 of the Ministry Culture – Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism).
Source: Collected internet.