Chau Lam Pagoda

Chau Lam Pagoda is now located at 199 Thuy Khue Street. The pagoda has a large architectural scale, with a lot of old houses around the main pagoda, along with the system of ancient trees and fruit trees such as mango, jackfruit, pomelo, and persimmon, has existed for more than 100 years which give the solemn appearance of the ancient temple. The pagoda includes: Three-arched-entrances gate – Pagoda’s yard - main pagoda (The front house, upper chamber and post-palace), these architectural parts of the pagoda are built successively in order to creating a sense of closed for the whole construction
The three-arched-entrance gate is made with the style of bell tower, the main gate has three compartments, two auxiliary gates in two sides. Outside the gates are two high pillars, on the top are 4 birds tucked together while the body of the pillars are parallel-sentence is in low relief Chinese characters.
Between the gate and the main pagoda are a large garden and a yard. The pagoda is elevated 0.80 m above the surface of the yard, in front of the pagoda to the two sides connected to the wall are two high pillars, underneath, there are decorations and relief parallel-sentences on all of the pillar bodies. The tiled roof is made of two layers, between the two layers of roof is the wall with decoration of relief bamboo, apricot blossom, peach, pomegranate, etc. In the middle of the roof and frame are 3 large characters "Chau Lam Tu" (Chau Lam Pagoda) written in ancient Chinese.
The main temple is a large structure consisting of 3 parts: the front house, incense burner and upper chamber. The house is adjacent to each other and is closed by the surrounding wall system, making the space of the Three-jewels more spacious. The front house is a large building with five compartments. In the pagoda, the roofs are made with two different styles, the main part is very complex while the surrounding is simpler. The porch in front of the front house has a wide yard corresponding to 7 plots. On the roof are beams made out of ironwood which are decorated with carved clouds and flowers to enhance the beauty and aesthetics of the ancient temple.
The incense burner consists of two lengths connected with the front of the house with the upper house, the roof because of the type of husband, the price of the lower gong. In the middle are the men and the bar outside because there are two decorated decorative dragons and clouds, water dragons, etc.
The five-compartment hall has the same style as the front house, because the wooden pillars have huts on the upper edge, the woods are stacked, decorated with clouds and flowers. The epitaphs in the upper chamber were decorated with letters, underneath the first sentence of the doors were attached to the hammock door, lacquered gold lacquered gold added to the splendor of the location of the Buddha.
The layout of altars in the pagoda:
In the upper chamber was built with brick pedestals rising from the outside to statues of Buddha. In the highest position, the most solemn position is the three statues of the three gods representing the three worlds of Buddhism: past, present and future are sitting on lotus.
The second layer consists of a larger size Amitabha sitting in the middle, the two are Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and Sanskrit Bodhisattva.
The third layer consists of the statue of Maitreya sitting between the two servants.
The last layer is the Nine Dragons Tower, reflecting the image of Buddha Shakyamuni at birth. In addition to the front house, the right side is the altar of the Red face sitting between the two servants, the left side is the statue of the Holy, between the two guardian statues.
In the all round statues of the temple, Amitabha was the first one to be made (around the 18th century). General characteristics of this group are natural sitting, comfortable, slightly rounded face, chest bloated, large waist with big eyebrows and lotus leaf width, thick large lotus petals, with sharp details.
The ancestor altar house is behind the main pagoda, which is separated by a large yard. The compartment house was renovated in 1994. The house is built with the style of retaining wall and it is on the ground 30 cm above the surface, the porch is 2.7 meters wide.
The ancestor altar house consists of three altars: The central one is the altar of the West, two sides are the two altars of which the superior monk has died, each board consists of two statues.
The Mau house is next to the Patriarchate altar house and consists of 5 compartments. It has a tiled roof and front doors with elaborately carved decorations. Inside the frame of the house has the same structure as the front house. Beams are decorated with clouds, flowers and leafs to give a sense of strength to the frame but not being too rough.
Place of worship: At the center, in the highest position, most respectfully display 3 statues of the three godmothers statues, below the statue of five wise men (five mandarins); The right compartment is worshiping the Tran Dynasty, opposite the left side is the Mountain gods.
There are also other works: the ceremony house, the kitchen.
In general, Chau Lam pagoda has a large architectural scale, a beautiful landscape and lots of houses that give the ancient pagoda solemnity and the ancient trees and ornamental trees help enhance the silent beauty of the ancient temple.
At present, Chau Lam pagoda also preserves relics of high scientific and artistic values, including:
2 stone steles, including an unmarked one. Stele was made in 1894; the stele is made of smooth blue stone, 83 cm high, 50 cm wide, and the face is inscribed with ancient Chinese characters.
There are 48 statues from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Two paintings were subjected to the theme of four noble plants (Conifer, Chrysanthemum, Bamboo, Apricot blossom) and four Chinese characters embossed: “Ky vien hoi thuong”. (Temple Association)
Two bells, in which is notable is the bell "Chau Lam thien tu" (Chau Lam pagoda’s bell). The bell was in 1692. It is 0.60m x 0.28m with cylinder shape, flared edges, and the body of the bell is thick and long. The bell with the dragon bent at the top, the head and two feet attach the top of the bell, the body of the bell divided into four cells. The writing on the bell to record the merit to renovate the pagoda: the pagoda is an ancient and beautiful place, with the princess Trinh Thi Ngoc Le and the people with kindness, after renovate the temple and molding the bell, records all the people who have donated to make the bell.
01 small bell (Mau house) made in 1927.
01 musical stone "Chau Lam tu tap Phuc Khanh” made in 1839, size 150cm x 112cm. With the content: To commemorate the casting, the name of 42 people who contributed to cast the musical stone.
Among relics preserved in the pagoda in addition to the bronze bell Le dynasty and the bronze musical stone from Nguyen Dynasty is a collection of statues with 48 large statues, including 3 small statues, 5 statues of ancestors and 40 statues of Buddha.
The pagoda was built back in the early 18th century. The temple is located on an ancient land with hundreds of years of history, the land attached to the historical traditions against foreign invaders during the construction of the country. Chua Lam Pagoda is one of the oldest relics dating to Vietnam. The traces of the historical period are bold on the architecture and the relics. The pagoda worships the Buddha to bless the villagers. The pagoda is the center of cultural and spiritual life of the resident community, which is a place of prayer for the good of all classes of people in the society and at the same time, preserves the great customs of the local people.
Chua Lam pagoda has a large architectural style with many houses and built on a land of beautiful natural beauty, airy in a separate area. At present, the pagoda has a large architectural scale bearing the unique beauty of the ancient pagoda architecture. Chua Lam Pagoda also preserves the traditional wooden architecture of the Nguyen dynasty. Previously the pagoda was built at the entrance of the village but due to the change of the village at the beginning of Nguyen dynasty, the Pagoda was moved to its current location. The pagoda is also home to decorative items such as the two paintings with the themes: dragon, horse, phoenix and god. It is a vivid picture with a punctured style, with skillful expression of the ancient artist who left behind a work of high artistic value which is typical of the architecture of the Nguyen Dynasty .Among all of these ancient relics, notably the round statues. The statues have many themes: Buddha statues, Ancestor statues with high aesthetic art values, statues made elaborate workmanship, meticulously and covered with splendid gold. These are perfect works of art, demonstrating a skillful technical level by hands of talented workers. The statues were created at different times in the 18th - 19th centuries. These are precious works that help to understand the art of sculpture in the history of the nation.
Besides, there are many relics in the pagoda which are rich and diversified with all kinds of shapes and sizes: bronze bell, stone tablet, parallel sentences with high historical and cultural value. There are carved wood relics and exquisite ancient beauty of the pagoda. There are some written relics such as stone tablets and bells from the Le and Nguyen dynasties. In addition to the artistic value, the epitaph is also a precious source in the understanding of the life and society of an ancient village on the history of the establishment of pagodas and temples recorded through the epitaph, the bell, to save for posterity. At the same time with Ho Khau temple located adjacent to the temple to form a complete religious complex, where conservation and preservation of fine cultural traditions, where the relationship between community and educate good behavior for all members of society.
The temple is classified as a cultural and historical vestige in Decision No. 1777 / QĐ-UBND dated 03 April, 2014. /.