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Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda
The Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda was built
on a hill in the Tràng An Commune, Đông Triều District, about 3.5 km
from Đông Triều Town and 83 km from Ha Long City. Before the pagoda
is a great lake, while the three remaining sides are surrounded by
hills and mountains.
The pagoda was built at the Pre-Lư Dynasty (about
the end of the 5th century, begin of the 6th
century) and has been restored many times under the Đinh, Early Lê,
Lư, Trần, Lê dynasties. It was embellished and completed in Lư, Trần
dynasties. During the 11th and 14th centuries
- the end of Lê Dynasty and in the 17th and 18th
centuries it developed into the main centre of Buddhism for the
entire country.
In
the 14th century the Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda became an even more
important Buddhist centre with the activities of the monk Pháp Loa
Đồng Kiên Cương: a member of the second generation of the Trúc Lâm
Buddhist sect. It was the centre for sacred books and for preaching
Buddhism, as well as a training-site for future pagoda wardens. Many
associations, famous in Vietnamese literature and history, were
organized here.
The
ritual festivities of the Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda are held from the first
to the fourth day of the second lunar month, but the festive
atmosphere lasts through spring. Buddhist faithful flock here from
all corners of the country.
In
1319, Pháp Loa call for blood donation from Buddhist followers to
print over 5,000 copies of Đại Tạng sutras, which are kept at Quỳnh
Lâm Buddhist Institute. In 1328, he had a statue of Maitreya cast. A
year later, he brought a part of the bone ash of Nhân Tông (the 1st
patriarch of the Trúc Lâm zen sect) to put into the stone stupa in
Quỳnh Lâm Pagoda. In early 15th century, the pagoda was
reduced to ruins and had to undergo many restorations. In 1727, the
7-storey Tịch Quang Stupa (grave of monk Chân Nguyên, who made great
contribution to the pagoda) was set up, which measures up to 10
meters. The stupa’s top takes the shape of a banyan bud. To the
stupa is attached a plate which notes down the biography of monk
Chân Nguyên. In mid-18th century, the pagoda underwent a
major restoration. It now also has bronze bells and stone gongs.
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