No. 308 Lac Long Quan Street, Buoi Ward
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Introduce
Thien Nien pagoda in Trich Sai village, now in Buoi ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi. The pagoda is named Thien Nien because the pagoda is located on the land names Thien Nien by Le Thanh Tong cut half of Trich Sai village to form. In Minh Menh’s reign (1820-1840) the land is once again be a part of Trich Sai village. Therefore, people are used to call the pagoda as “Thien Nien Trich Sai”.
Trich Sai is a memorable historical site of Tay Ho. Trich Sai is means collecting firewood, these two words originally are 2 verbs, not the name of a normal village. It is possible that thousands of years ago the West Lake area was a forest. There are many kinds of precious wood, many kinds of rare animals. Therefore exist the nine-tailed fox and ironwood legend. The western villager of West Lake specializes in collecting firewood, so the village name is Trich Sai.
The forest here is thickest in Long Do, where the nine-tailed fox stays. Therefore, the protection was set up in Trich Sai, Temple of Tho Phuc Loc was built in Trich Sai, Bat Thap Pagoda (Thien Nien Pagoda) was built in Trich Sai. This land is a sacred land of mystics.
Before learning about the Thien Nien pagoda we need to understand more about the three gods Tho, Phuc, Loc who eliminated the nine-tailed fox here.
As written in “Tay Ho chi”: "Temple of Tho Phuc Loc in Trich Sai ward by the lake. Three Princesses: One is the Van Tho Lady who is the incarnation of Golden Mother; the second one is Van Phuc Princess; the third one is the Van Loc Princess. The two princesses are the daughters of King Ly Nam De. At the age of married, they both gentle, wise, love rivers and mountains, often travel by boat on Canh river (Thien Duc river) through Tra Xuyen (Yen Phong), when they visit Lo Ma mountain (Long Do, including five mountains, the forest is dense). There is a well in the foot of the mountain, there is a nine-tailed fox that harm people in the area. The two try to turn back and look for someone who can eliminate the monster. Come to Khoi Lam bridge (Yen Lu commune) to meet a woman claiming that she know magic, and asked: "Can you eliminate the monster?", the woman’s answer was “Yes”. The two princesses are very happy to welcome the women, they take her on the boat to meet the king. The king permits her to do the spell. Sudden thunderstorms came, thunder striked, forest trees are lifted up, there are no longer any sign of the monster anymore. In the middle of the flaming red cloud, the women were gone. Come back to bring the question of the goddess, there were people said that the women is the Golden Mother’s incarnation, the King then confer the Van Tho Lady as Tran tinh Ba Vuong.
Along with building Tho Phuc Loc Temple, King Ly Nam De also built Bat Thap Pagoda for the two princesses to be abbot. By the time of King Le Thanh Tong set up Thien Nien area. On the higher ground, rebuild the Bat Thap Pagoda for the worship of Buddha, renamed it into Thien Nien Pagoda. The point here is he want to make is Thien Nien area and the Thien Nien pagoda will last for millenniums over time. (Thien nien means millennium).
Trich Sai Village has an ancient worship system including Tho Phuc Loc Temple, Bat Thap Tower and Bat Thap Pagoda. Nowadays, only Tho Phuc Loc Temple and Thien Nien Pagoda are left. The pagoda is dedicated to the Buddha and Phạm Thị Ngọc Đô, a wife who teach the people to weave of King Le Thanh Tong.
Thus, Thien Nien pagoda was built for a long time on the basis of repairing the Bat Thap pagoda built from the time of Ly Nam De. According to the stone tablet still preserved at the pagoda, the stone tablet on the right stated: In the Le Thanh Tong’s reign, half of the Trich Sai was cleared and changed its name into Thien Nien, set up the temples for the worshipping. The shrine was built at Bat Thap Pagoda then moved to a higher ground on the banks of West Lake and rebuilt the pagoda. Because the so-called Thien Nien so its name is Thien Nien Pagoda and act as a place to worship Buddha and spiritual practice. According to the records, the precursors of the pagoda are now is an ancient pagoda from the early Le dynasty.
The south-facing pagoda overlooks the magnificent West Lake, which is full of architectural works of a pagoda: Three-arched-gates entrance, garden, main pagoda, Mau house, ancestor altar house, tower garden of the monks have passed away. Currently, the path of the temple is not from the entrance but the gate at the side of Lac Long Quan Street to the kitchen.
Three-arched-gates entrance has two roofs, the architecture of the castle gate, three doors, and the middle door is directly leading to the front house. The theme is decorated mainly the dragon, tiger culture, edible leaves...
The main pagoda is in shape of Chinese character “Dinh”, consisting of the foundation stone on a 60cm high from the ground, garden; 4 roof tile, in the middle are three words “Thien Nien Tu” (Thien Nien pagoda).
Upper chamber: 4 smaller house connecting to the front house. From outside are brick stairs, the two sides also set up the statue of 10 Pluto. On the Three Jewels turn outside to:
Below: 1 curved incense.
A pavement is usually covered with small bells.
On the pedestal: Nirvana Buddha, the statue of the Nine-dragon with the newborn Shakyamuni between the two sides is Brahma – Jade Emperor.
Row 3: Bodhisattva, the two sides are two fairies.
Row 4: Shakyamuni with left hand raised, the right hand placed in the thigh, chest open with swastika. Two sides are A nan, Ca diếp standing, hand close. Statue is on the great lotus.
Row 5: Amitabha Buddha sitting 1m20 high, the two sides are Bodhisattva and the Great Mind.
Row 6: The Three Jewels.
The Ancestors house, Mother Goddesses house: a longitudinal connection with the upper chamber, west facing overlooking West Lake. It is a 5-room house with 3 rooms for worshipping and the remaining 2 rooms for the monks in the back.
Thien Nien Pagoda along with the system of relics around the West Lake is an attractive destination of tourists at dosmetic and abroad.
The temple is classified by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) Decision No. 138 / QD dated January 31, 1992./.
Artifacts
Map
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