Pho Minh Tower Pagoda

Pho Minh Tower Pagoda

Pho Minh Pagoda, whose name is Pho Minh Tu, is a pagoda located in Tuc Mac village, Loc Vuong ward, Nam Dinh city. Based on the ordination stele as well as ancient bibliographies, the pagoda was built during the Ly dynasty, and in 1262 the Tran dynasty expanded to a more grand scale. In 2012, Pho Minh Pagoda was ranked by the Prime Minister as a special National Monument. Because in front of Pho Minh Pagoda there is a tower, the pagoda is also known as Chua Thap, the Tower is also known as Pho Minh Tower. Pho Minh Tower is a unique architectural work. This is the largest, oldest and most intact tower in Vietnam. The book Nam Dinh Province Geography by author Khieu Nang Tinh records about the pagoda as follows: "During the Tran Dynasty, King Nhan Tong restored his residence as a monk. When the king died, Anh Tong built a 14-storey tower, 53 meters high, with 10 meters on each side to house the relics. During the Tay Son period, the governor of this region broke the top of the bronze gourd tower. When we reached the 13th floor where the stone was, we saw an object shaped like a red ribbon flying into the sky, so we stopped destroying it..." In addition, among the people, there is also a saying of Buddha Emperor Tran Nhan Tong: “No matter who competes for the throne I would like to send back this handful of temple bones." Therefore, researchers believe that this is a tomb tower. Currently in the country there are only three towers built during the Tran Dynasty: Pho Minh tower (Nam Dinh), Hue Quang tower (Yen Tu, Quang Ninh) and Binh Son tower (Lap Thach, Vinh Phuc), but Pho Tower Minh is still the more majestic tower, with the most elaborate, artistic, and technical construction. The tower was built right in front of the worshiping house on the North - South axis. The tower has a total height of 19.51m including 1 palanquin and 13 floors. The tower is built on a small square yard, each side is 8.6m and located 0.45m lower than the ground. The palanquin is the base of the tower designed entirely of green stone, each side is 5.20m long. At the foot of the tower there is a lotus flower with large petals and small petals, gradually tilting towards the corner of the tower from the middle, symbolizing a lotus platform holding a palanquin. The lower part of the stone pedestal is shaped to curve up on both sides, making people mistakenly think it is due to the rock sinking, but in fact, the construction was intended to create momentum for the more than a dozen floors above to have the same curvature. Looking at the entire tower, people will think of a Lotus flower rising and blooming in the middle of a lake. From the palanquin and above, there are 13-storey towers built of red bricks with 4 gates: East, West, South, North. Previously, all the floors had exposed Dragon motifs and beautifully decorated flowers and leaves. The higher the tower floors went, the smaller the height and width of the tower's face became. At the top of the tower was a cube with the shape of an unbloomed lotus flower made of old terracotta. Unfortunately, in the early years of the twentieth century, when repairing the tower, people placed a coat of cement material on the outside of the tower, causing the patterns on the bricks to be lost. In 1987, because some of the upper tower floors were cracked by tree roots, the cultural sector repaired and restored them. During the renovation process, people discovered that on the 11th and 12th floors of the tower, there was a stone sarcophagus surrounding a bronze box, which according to people's legend, could be the box containing the relics of Buddha Emperor Tran Nhan Tong. . Pho Minh Tower has existed for 7 centuries. Despite experiencing many storms and natural disasters, the tower is still preserved almost intact, becoming a rare wonder that makes it unique not only for the city. Pho Minh Pagoda but also Nam Dinh province in general. Source: Management Board of Historical-Cultural Relics Tran Temple and Thap Pagoda

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Rating : Special national monument

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