Admire the three oldest pagodas in the North - Central - South regions

With a history of hundreds to thousands of years, these three pagodas are early spring pilgrimage destinations that cannot be missed by tourists and Buddhists in all parts of the country.

With a history of hundreds to thousands of years, these three pagodas are early spring pilgrimage destinations that cannot be missed by tourists and Buddhists in all parts of the country.

1. Located in Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province, Dau Pagoda is the pagoda with the oldest history in the North as well as the whole of Vietnam. According to some historical records, the pagoda was started construction in 187 and completed in 226, and was the first Buddhist center of the Vietnamese people.

The pagoda has an "internal and foreign" architectural style with four connected rows of houses surrounding three main houses, including the main hall, incense burner and upper palace. The most impressive work of Dau Pagoda is the Hoa Phong tower located in the backyard of the front hall. The old tower had 9 floors, now only the lower three floors remain.

Regarding beliefs, Dau Pagoda worships the Four Dharmas, including Phap Van, Phap Vu, Phap Loi, and Phap Dien. This is a unique worship system with characteristics of the ancient Kinh Bac Zen lineage.

Today, the pagoda still preserves about 100 worship statues of all kinds, including many exemplary works of ancient Vietnamese sculpture.

2. Located in Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province, Hoang Phuc pagoda was mentioned in Vietnamese history since the early 14th century as the pagoda with the oldest history in the Central region. According to history books, in 1301, Buddha Emperor Tran Nhan Tong visited the pagoda - then called Tri Kien temple - and prayed for blessings for the people.

Due to war and natural disasters, in the 20th century Hoang Phuc Pagoda became ruins. In 2014, new construction began on the pagoda, completed in 2016.

After reconstruction, Hoang Phuc Pagoda has the space, layout and traditional Vietnamese pagoda architecture on a 10,000m2 campus.

The old gate of Hoang Phuc Pagoda is kept as a historical evidence.

3. Located next to Ba Om Pond, a famous landscape of Tra Vinh city, Tra Vinh province, Ang Pagoda has a history dating back to 990, and is the most ancient pagoda in the South.

The pagoda is located on a 4-hectare campus, with a main hall built on a 2-meter high foundation, built in the typical architectural style of Southern Khmer Buddhism.

The unique feature of this architecture is that the roof consists of three levels, the top two roofs are steeper and higher than the remaining roofs. The roof mounds have the image of the snake god Naga with a curved crest, symbolizing the bridge between the world and Nirvana.

Like other pagodas of the Khmer Theravada Buddhist sect, in the main hall of An Pagoda, only Shakyamuni Buddha is worshiped. The main wall of the hall is decorated with brilliant and sophisticated paintings.

Bac Ninh 1301 view

Update day : 28/02/2024