Explore the four most famous ancient tower gardens in Vietnam

The tower garden - the resting place of monks - is an important element in the architectural space of Vietnamese temples. Let's take a look at the most impressive ancient tower gardens in Vietnam.

The tower garden - the resting place of monks - is an important element in the architectural space of Vietnamese temples. Let's take a look at the most impressive ancient tower gardens in Vietnam.

1. Located in Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province, Bo Da pagoda is one of the pagodas with an important role in the history of Vietnamese Buddhism. The pagoda is known near and far as having an ancient Buddhist tower garden that is considered the most beautiful and large-scale in Vietnam.

The tower garden of Bo Da Pagoda dates back to the Ly Dynasty and was expanded and restored through many different stages. It is a place to store relics and ashes of monks and nuns who practiced at the pagoda. Today this tower garden has an area of ​​nearly 8,000 m2.

The entire garden has nearly 100 towers, with many different types, most of which are many centuries old. The tomb towers are lined up in rows and rows and built according to very strict Buddhist regulations.

Each tower buries from 4 to 26 bodies, for a total of 1,214 bodies. The scale of the tower garden affirms the position of Bo Da Pagoda as a major Buddhist Center of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen lineage.

2. Located on top of Thien An mountain in Quang Ngai City, Thien An Pagoda is a famous ancient pagoda of Quang Ngai land. One of the unique features of this temple is the tomb tower located on the east side of the temple grounds.

This is where large towers gather, with complex structures with screens, pillars, tomb towers and walls. The tower was built with many floors in odd numbers (3, 5, 7, 9), shaped like a lotus flower - a symbol of the purity of Buddhist teachings.

Many tomb towers of ancient temples are centuries old. This is the burial place of the monks and monks who have led Thien An Pagoda for many generations.

In recent years, the pagoda's tower garden has also added an imposing 9-storey stupa. The tower was built as a place to commemorate the Founding Father of Thien An Pagoda, Zen Master Phap Hoa (1670 - 1754).

3. Located in An Nhon district, Binh Dinh province, Thap Thap Pagoda was formed in the 17th century and is one of the most famous ancestral temples in the Central region. The pagoda's ancient tower garden is considered one of the most beautiful tower gardens in Vietnam.

The garden has a total of 24 large and small stupas, where the bodies of the abbots and monks residing in the temple are kept. These towers were built from the 19th to the early 20th century, with an architecture quite similar to the tomb towers at Thien An Pagoda.

Although built in the same style, the tomb towers in the tower garden have rich architectural forms, no two towers are the same. These works both reflect the Buddhist worldview and imbue traditional Vietnamese folk culture.

In the tower garden there is a pure white tower that everyone knows as the White Tower. This tower is associated with a legend passed down from ancient times about the pure heart of monk Lieu Triet - the second abbot of the pagoda.

4. Located in Thuy Xuan ward, Hue city, Tu Hieu pagoda is a large ancient pagoda and plays an important role in the history of Hue ancient capital. This is also one of the pagodas with the most beautiful tower gardens in Vietnam, with many ancient tomb towers of quite grand scale.

These works are exquisitely decorated, bearing the traditional architecture of the ancient capital of Hue. This is the resting place of many famous monks who had great influence on the Nguyen court in the ancient Hue Citadel.

In addition to the tomb towers of monks, Tu Hieu Pagoda is also famous for a very special ancient tomb area, dedicated to eunuchs of the Nguyen Dynasty. This tomb is located in a rectangular plot of land with an area of ​​nearly 1,000 m2, with 25 tombs, divided into 3 rows, arranged according to the positions of the eunuchs.

Outside the eunuchs' cemetery, there are many tombs of concubines and beautiful women who once lived in the Nguyen royal court. On the full moon day of November every year, Tu Hieu Pagoda holds a common death anniversary to commemorate people of all different backgrounds resting in the temple grounds.

Bac Giang 1497 view

Update day : 15/10/2023