The largest pagoda in the world, Tam Chuc pagoda is 1.5 hours drive from Hanoi. Located in Ha Nam province, the pagoda has been rebuilt on the grounds of ancient Tam Chuc of Dinh dynasty in the 10th century.
Inaugurated in 2019, this pagoda is largest pagoda to date covering an area of 5,100 hectares. I have so many pictures that I am in a dilemma which ones to chose.
History:
Around 20 years back while surveying the Tam Chuc lake, workers found wooden pillars and other remnents of ancient Tam Chuc Pagoda. The temple was dated back to 1000 years.
The present temple is built on the foundation of the ancient pagoda.
Pagodas as seen from road
Exterior gate, going inside the complex, couldn't take a proper picture
view from inside
The exterior gate is the entry to Tam Chuc complex. The gate has entrances. The top has architecture similar to pagodas in the complex.
The distance from parking lot to pagoda is 5 kms so there are two ways one can reach the pagoda-- by electric motor van or by boat. The van is much faster.
- The west facing pagoda has Luc Nhuc lake in front and That Thinh mountain behind.
- The Cong Tam Quan or the internal gate has three arched entrances.
- The largest building is Dien Tam The which is at the highest end and houses 3 huge black bronze Buddha images.
- Coming down from Dien Tam The is Dien Phap Cu which has a single image of Buddha.
- Further down is Dien Quan An with an image of Quan An.
- Between the internal gate and Dien Quan An is a garden of 32 pillars.
- This pagoda is very similar to Bai Dinh Pagoda in Ninh Binh province.
ferry approaching
ferry closer to wharf
passengers get off the boats
Interior gate or Tam Quan Gate:
On getting off the wharf, is the three arched gate.
The gate is located on the Shinto axis, that is the axis between celestial poles. It is similar to Mount Meru or Kailash which forms the center of universe.
Reclining Buddha or "Thich ca thap niet ban" in Vietnamese under the center gate
Images of reclining Buddha are rarely seen in Vietnam in contrast to Thailand where one sees this posture of Buddha in almost all pagodas.
temple guardians on both sides of the hall
Most visitors after the internal gate go to Dien Tam The and then come back visiting Dien Phap Chu and Dien Quan An temples.
A road goes up towards the Ngoc or ruby pagoda. It is a steep and long climb.
We decided to go to Diean Tam The first, then walk and climb up to Ngoc pagoda and come down seeing Phap Chu and Dien Quan An temples.
Dien Tam The or Main Hall of Buddha of three times:
This biggest temple in this complex is at an altitude of 45 meters above sea level.
The temple has 3 curved roofs.
The corners of roof curve upwards with a dragon mouth open towards inside and tail going up like tidal waves. In the center is the blazing sun with the center of yin and yang.
After taking off shoes and passing through huge wooden doors, one enters a large hall which is 5,100 meters and can accomodate upto 1,500 people.
The three Buddhas: Amitabha, Gautam and Maitreya
In the center of hall are three colossal black bronze Buddha images in three different poses or mudras. Each image weighs about 80 tons and has gold plated Bodhi leaf with small leaves inside.
Tam the Buddha means Buddha of three times: past, present and future. so, it is always worshipped in a set of three. Tam the Buddha is the most worshipped statues in Vietnam.
The past represented by Amitabha Buddha, present is Sakyamuni Buddha and the future is Maitreya Buddha.
back side of each leaf of image
An image of Boddhiattva of compassion, Quan An behind of the images
The hall has reliefs in stone all around the hall. They depict the life of Buddha. There are said to be 12,000 reliefs in the hall.
Kaal chakra or Wheel of time
Three huge reliefs at the back of three statues:
Three huge wall to wall reliefs decorate the back of colossal images.
Angels and fairies can be seen above the meditating or preaching Buddha.
abhay mudra(do not fear) or even the blessing or var mudra
Buddha in dyaan mudra or meditative posture
Buddha in preaching posture
huge bell inside the hall
The courtyard:
Going down the stairs is a huge courtyard.
an incense burning urn flanked by cranes sitting on turtle
crane with a lotus in its beak symbolises purity and longevity
This image of crane sitting on top of turtle is very frequently seen in Vietnamese pagodas and also in Chinese temples.
I was never able to figure out the significance of this posture earlier.
Both, crane as well as turtle are a symbol of longevity and together they represent a long and healthy life.
According to a folk tale, many years back Vietnam was flooded and a crane flying up could find no dry place to land. A turtle swimming in water, came out and offered its back to the bird. Many years later, the country was struck with a bad drought and there was no water for the turtle. This time the crane flew down and carried the turtle to a lake thus repaying his debt.
These two are thus always displayed together. They also signify helping those in need.
The 30 ton bronze Pho Minh cauldron is 4 meters high and has famous spiritual landscapes of Vietnam sculplted on it.
Zen Master Ngyun Minh Khong
He was one of the Zen Masters who was the ancestor of Bai Dinh pagoda and contributed to the development of Buddhism in Vietnam.
Tam Chuc Pagoda- Ha Nam
Trang An Pagoda--- Bai Dinh
Bai Dinh Pagoda-- Ninh Binh
On the sides are images of Buddha in different mudras or hand gestures
Bodhi tree, a sapling of which came from Sri Lanka and said to be from a 2, 125 year old Bodhi tree in India.
We made our way to Jade pagoda or Ngoc Pagoda. After visiting that pagoda, we come down to see Phap Cu, Dien Quan An. That, I shall be covering in my next post.
