Tran Quoc Pagoda

Tran Quoc Pagoda was originally called Khai Quoc Pagoda, built in 541 during the Early Ly Dynasty. At that time, the pagoda was located near the banks of the Red River, so when the dyke collapsed in 1615 (during the reign of King Le Trung Hung), the pagoda was moved inside the Yen Phu dyke to the Kim Nguu mound area. Then, around the 17th century, Lord Trinh built Co Ngu dike (now Thanh Nien road) to connect with Kim Nguu island. The pagoda changed its name to Tran Quoc Pagoda during the reign of King Le Hy Tong (1681 - 1705) with the hope that this would be a place to help people ward off natural disasters and bring a peaceful life to all people. And that name is used to this day. In the past, Tran Quoc Pagoda was the Buddhist center of Thang Long capital. Kings Ly and Tran often visited sights and worshiped on holidays and Tet at the pagoda, so many palaces were built to serve the king's rest: Thuy Hoa palace, Ham Nguyen palace. The pagoda is located on an island east of West Lake, nestled quietly on busy Thanh Nien street. As an ancient pagoda built a long time ago, Tran Quoc Pagoda has undergone many restorations, its appearance has changed somewhat, the current scale and architecture of the pagoda is the result of a major restoration in 1815. The total area of ​​the pagoda is about more than 3000m2, including the tower garden, ancestral house and upper palace. The pagoda belongs to the Northern sect with structure and architecture according to strict principles of Buddhism including 3 main temples: Front hall, incense burning house and Upper hall connected together to form the letter Cong (工). The Tien Duong house is facing west, behind is the Tam Bao house. Two corridors are located on both sides of the incense burning house and the Upper Palace. Behind the Upper Palace is the bell tower located on the main hall axis with a three-compartment architecture with a match roof. The ancestral house is located on the left of the Upper Palace and on the left is the stele house which still preserves 14 steles with many historical and cultural values. In 1998, the six-level lotus stupa was built, and in 2003, it was completed to form the pagoda's tower garden. The Stupa is 15m high and has 11 floors. On each floor of the tower, there is a white gemstone statue of Amitabha Buddha in each arched doorway. In particular, at the top there is a 9-storey lotus tower (Nine Lotus Flower) carved from precious stones, creating a majestic, sacred yet very soft beauty. The Stupa was built symmetrically with the Bodhi tree given by the President of India in 1959 during his visit to the capital Hanoi. This Bodhi tree is extracted from the Maha Bodhi tree in Dao Trang - where Buddha Shakyamuni sat and practiced more than 25 centuries ago. Currently, the pagoda still preserves many valuable Buddha and Bodhisattva statues located mainly in the Upper Palace. The most prominent among them is the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha entering Nirvana made from wood, lacquered with gold, and is a beautiful Nirvana statue in Vietnam. Through many ups and downs of time, Tran Quoc Pagoda still stands there majestically, bringing a peaceful yet ancient look in the heart of bustling Hanoi. Every year, the pagoda attracts many Buddhists from all over, domestic and foreign tourists to offer incense, worship Buddha as well as visit the pagoda.

Hanoi 1414 view From January to December

Ngày cập nhật : 11/03/2023