The 700-year-old ancient pagoda on the outskirts of Hanoi is in danger of collapsing

April 21, 2022 16:42 GMT+7

The name of Bamboo Pagoda is Dien Phuc Tu. According to the stone stele in front of the street, the pagoda was built in the 5th Khai Thai dynasty, on the 7th day of the first month of the year of the Dragon (1328). The content of the stele reads: “Dien Phuc Institute – Quoc Oai Highway – Huong Gia, Que hamlet to pay respects to the Tam Bao pillar…”. Therefore, the Bamboo Pagoda is now nearly 700 years old.

Dien Phuc Pagoda (ie Bamboo Pagoda, in Phu Xuyen, Hanoi) is seriously degraded due to not being able to agree on a repair plan.

Bamboo Pagoda has a rather large three-way gate. In the middle of the gate, outside there are 3 Chinese characters: “Dien Phuc Tu”, and the bottom 4 Chinese characters are: “Tu Quang Pho Chieu”. To the left of Tam Quan is an ancient Bodhi tree. Bamboo Pagoda turns to the west, towards the Nhue River. The front porch runs with 5 compartments, on both sides, there is a fireball in the middle of the roof. To the left there are a number of stupas of the abbots. In front of the temple yard, there is a standing statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and a stone incense tree dating back to the 18th century.

The statue of Buddha in front of the temple yard was cracked.

In the upper hall of the Bamboo pagoda, there are still many beautiful ancient statues, typically the statue of Quan Am Nam Hai with 18 arms, 2m high, sitting in the lotus position in the lotus position. Under the lotus pedestal are 4 dragon heads turning to the four corners, the body is painted yellow, the lotus pedestal and the dragon’s head are painted pink.

Bamboo pagoda has been degraded for a long time, the tile roof is skewed and punctured in many places; The temple yard is overgrown with grass, the lime walls are peeling, the trusses are termite and moldy.

The roof tiles are skewed and punctured in many places.

The pagoda’s abbot Thich Dam Vinh said that the pagoda has been planned to be repaired many times, but so far, it has not been implemented: “Many times I have submitted an application to the local government, asking for permission to repair the temple. But between the temple and the government has not yet agreed on a plan.

The abbot added that because it has not been recognized as a relic, restoration is difficult, because the relevant documents of this 700-year-old temple have been lost.

The details and patterns of the temple.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Head of Dai Nghiep village (Tan Dan commune, Phu Xuyen district, Hanoi) informed: “The temple has been degraded for nearly a decade now, we coordinated with Abbot Thich Dam Vinh to plan to restore it. , but up to now it has not been able to fix it due to some problems.

Before that, the pagoda was also restored, but this time damaged many items, from the foot of the foundation, the tile was also damaged a lot, now there is a heavy rain and the temple can fall or collapse at any time. . We look forward to repairing it soon to ensure the safety of the temple.”

According to Mr. Thanh, in the temple there are many very precious 700-year-old statues that are easily damaged by rain and wind; Unfortunately, if the temple collapsed before being repaired, it would avoid damaging the statues.

“We try to preserve the temple, if we repair it, we still keep the soul, design according to the old original, keep all the statues, stele … in the temple”, Mr. Thanh added.

The gate of the temple was newly built and spacious, but inside, most of the items were seriously degraded.

The roof is full of holes.

Grass grows well on moist soil.

The temple has hung a warning sign of danger when the rainy season is coming.

Many of the statues in the temple date back nearly 700 years.

The columns, trusses inside the temple are termite, rotten… in danger of collapsing.

Tiles in the Three Jewels fell to the ground.

To avoid being exposed to the sun and rain, the temple had to stretch canvas over the places where the tiles had fallen.

Cracked walls, wooden doors, and wooden pillars are punctured by termites.

Shabby tile roof.

“I hope the temple is repaired as soon as possible, so that we can have a place to worship and recite the Buddha’s name,” a Buddhist expressed impatience as he looked at the village’s temple in a state of waiting to collapse.

Although the roof of the temple is broken, the wooden pillars are rotten, hollow inside, other items are also seriously degraded, moss is overgrown, but the temple is still cared for by monks, monks and nuns. , incense daily. It is known that there are currently a number of units and benefactors willing to provide money to the locality to repair and upgrade the Bamboo pagoda.

Bao Khanh