400-year-old stone stele and unique Buddha statues in Nghe An

According to the pagoda's board of trustees, Bao Quang Pagoda was built at the end of the Tran Dynasty in Ngoc Dinh village, Chung Cu commune, now Kim Lien commune. The pagoda's Vietnamese name is Dat Pagoda. Photo: Huy Thu

At Dat Pagoda, there is still an ancient stele about 1.6m high and 0.9m wide, erected in front of the pagoda yard. According to documents, the stele was erected during the reign of King Le Than Tong, the 3rd year of Vinh To (1621): "Vinh To van van nien chi tam coc nguyet nhat", up to now, it has been 400 years. Photo: Huy Thu

The stele has two sides, the front side is engraved with large Chinese characters: "Chung Son Bao Quang Tu stele" (Bao Quang Pagoda stele, Chung mountain) and on the back is the line "Ten directions of faith and merit”. The border and forehead of the stele are decorated with patterns, images of two dragons facing the sun, and images of water waves, very sophisticated. The front of the stele has 25 lines of text, the back has 11 lines. The entire stele has about 1,500 Chinese characters, all of which are still sharp. Photo: Huy Thu

The content of the stele talks about the large-scale restoration of Dat Pagoda in 1617 with its massive architecture. The stele also states that some famous figures of the time, who were children of Nghe An, stood up to restore the pagoda, such as Quang Tien Than Loc Dai Phu Nguyen Hoanh Tai, Do Chi Huy Su Hoang Nghia Phuc or Dung Tri Hau Phu Nhan Hoang Thi Ngoc Bao... The back of the stele records the names of those who donated meritorious services to restore the pagoda. The stele was written byMinister of Justice and Academician of the Eastern Pavilion, Imperial Academy, Marquis of Nghia Khe, Tru Quoc, composed by Nguyen Le Thuan, Snow Hall's Tutor.The ancient stele of Bao Quang pagoda is a precious artifact, with many valuable aspects in the study of history, religion, art, etc. Photo: Huy Thu

Bao Quang Pagoda still preserves 4 ancient stone statues enshrined on altars built of laterite. According to Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa (68 years old), head of the pagoda's board of trustees, when the pagoda became a ruin, most of the ancient statues were lost. Fortunately, after the pagoda was restored, people found 4 ancient stone statues, of which 3 were headless. Photo: Huy Thu

The common point of these statues is that they are carved in a meditative posture, wearing clothes with simple patterns, with two hands crossed on the thighs, and behind the back of each statue there is a round hole about 4 cm deep and 6 cm in diameter. Photo: Huy Thu

The stone statue with the head is a statue of a meditating Buddha about 0.7m high, one hand on the thigh, one hand raised, facing forward. The statue's layout is balanced and harmonious, with soft lines. Photo: Huy Thu

According to Ms. Hoa, this statue was returned by 2 people from 2 communes. The body of the statue was brought back by a person from Hoang Tru village, Kim Lien commune, who put the statue in the garden, then brought the statue to the pagoda to return in 2015. The head of the statue was found by a person from Nam Linh commune in the field in 1982. After a period of investigation, he found that Dat pagoda had a stone statue, so he brought the head to return it and sure enough, when the head was put on the body of the statue, they matched. Photo: Huy Thu

A field survey in Nghe An shows that in pagodas that still preserve ancient statues, most of them are wooden statues. It can be said that these are rare ancient stone Buddha statues in our province. Buddhists at Bao Quang Pagoda are very excited about this and are always conscious of preserving and protecting ancient statues. Photo: Huy Thu

In addition to ancient steles and ancient stone statues, at Bao Quang Pagoda there are also dozens of large, deeply grooved, elaborately carved stone pillars hidden in dense forests. Located in the relic complex on Chung Mountain, Bao Quang Pagoda - Dat Pagoda is a large pagoda, a place with beautiful scenery in Kim Lien: "The most joyful is the scene of Cau Market/ above the pagoda, below the market, between the bell towers". Photo: Huy Thu