History of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda
Vinh Nghiem pagoda is located in Duc La village, Tri Yen commune, Yen Dung district, Bac Giang province, also known as Duc La pagoda, also known as La festival. This temple is the intersection between Luc Nam and Thuong rivers (called Phuong Nhan junction). The pagoda overlooks the river confluence, Luc Dau Giang – Kiep Bac side, Cam Ly area, the gateway to Yen Tu mountain. Around the pagoda are high mountains, especially Co Tien mountain. Across the river is the royal palace of Tran Hung Dao, Kiep Bac temple.
This temple dates from the beginning of the Ly Thai To Dynasty (1010-1028), the letter name is Vinh Nghiem Tu (永嚴寺). During the reign of King Tran Thanh Tong (1258-1278), the high monks often practiced here, so it was restored and repaired magnificently. When King Tran Nhan Tong (陳仁宗; 1258-1308), no longer regent, took refuge at Vinh Nghiem pagoda, Ngoa Van pagoda (Yen Tu) ordained, took the name Huong Van Dai Dau Da, founded the sect. Zen Buddhism of Vietnamese Buddhism. Huong Van and two disciples Phap Loa (法螺) and Huyen Quang (玄光) founded and completed the Vietnamese Zen school called Tam To.
Architecture of Vinh Nghiem pagoda
The area of the pagoda is about 1 hectare, surrounded by dense bamboo ramparts. Currently, the temple is being renovated and created favorable conditions for tourists to travel and worship. Visitors can follow the route such as: Tam Quan gate, go about 100m deep to worship the road, also known as Ho Pagoda. On both sides of the road, the pagoda is built with pine groves of about 1m to form coniferous forests.
On the temple yard there is a large stone stele, consisting of 6 faces erected in the 7th year of Hoang Dinh (1606). Right in front of the ancient stele is the garden of the tombs of 5 monks: Phu Lang Trung Phap (Samon name), Thong Due Ung Duyen, Thanh Quy, Tinh Phuong Sa Mon, Thanh Hanh and some other towers.
After passing the three-way gate, visitors can go to the front hall, the burning incense, the upper palace, the first ancestral house, the bell tower, the second ancestral house, and two rows of east-west corridors. Every architecture here is restored in an ancient way so as not to lose cultural identity for thousands of years. In 1964, the pagoda was ranked as a National Historical – Cultural relic.
Woodblocks of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda – World Memory Documentary Heritage
The temple also worships Buddha statues, statues of Truc Lam lineages, statues of later monks, Dharma protectors, Arhat statues… In the temple, there is also a muzzle nearly half a meter long, painted in glossy black, and has a sound hole. with two lines in Sanskrit. Vinh Nghiem Pagoda was once a place to train Buddhist monks, so it was a place to store ancient scriptures up to 10 rooms wide. Those are the sets of scriptures dating from 700 years ago, which are extremely valuable treasures of ancient books, such as: Sa Di Tang Sa Di Ly Thieu Ly (348 precepts), the Yen Tu Diary from the 15th century (the process of Formation of Truc Lam sect), Hoa Nghiem So, Di Da so star, Mahayana only shop, Precepts business ni… Nowadays, there are many shelves printed with historical scriptures still at the temple. The ancients called this engraving, proving that Vinh Nghiem Pagoda once ruled 72 places of the forest.
Currently, the wooden book store still retains 34 books with nearly 3000 engravings, each copy has two sides, each side has 2 pages of books with negative engravings (negatives) with about 2000 Nom and Han characters. Those engravings are still handed down in our country with each sharp and delicate handwriting. Today, those values remain the same, with no loss of value.
Learn about Vinh Nghiem pagoda 1 day tour
Every year, every spring, Vinh Nghiem pagoda festival is held on the 14th day of the second lunar month, attracting a large number of local people and domestic and foreign tourists to attend. The route to the temple is also very simple and convenient, which makes the trip even more meaningful. When visitors come to practice and pilgrimage here in the early spring of the new year, they will be guided by the temple. The most convenient means of transport for this journey is by car. Just 1 day only, visitors can also enjoy all the scenery at the owner, the cradle of spirituality.
Many visitors after coming to the temple give great impressions about this trip. At the beginning of this new year, take some time and come to Bac Giang, enjoy the natural scenery here and pray together for a peaceful and lucky new year.
Source: Collected internet.