Admire special editions of national treasures on Buddhism

The exhibition aims to provide an overview of Vietnamese Buddhist culture in terms of language, robes, architecture, and heritage.

The original tower was built by the third king of the Ly Dynasty (Ly Thanh Tong) from 1057-1066 at Van Phuc Pagoda, Tien Du Mountain (Bac Ninh Province). Inside the tower is a "6-meter-tall golden statue".

The Ly Dynasty tower version was reconstructed based on archaeological and historical documents, with a square plan of 13 floors, a brick core structure and decorative stone cladding.

The base of the tower is shaped like Mount Sumeru, on top of a thousand-petaled lotus rises a precious tower like the manifestation of Buddha. On all four sides are eight sets of diamonds guarding and protecting the Buddha Dharma. Around the tower gather the sacred birds Ca Lang Tan Gia, singing from the paradise. The dragon and flower vine sculptures demonstrate the excellent craftsmanship of the artisans, expressing the generous and aesthetic thinking of an era.

It took the research team two years to complete these Buddha statues. The national treasure Buddha statues are reproduced at a scale 50-70% smaller.

The original statue is a masterpiece of Ly Dynasty sculpture, recognized by the state as a national treasure in 2013. The original statue was made of green stone, with a height of 277cm including the pedestal, depicting Amitabha Buddha sitting in meditation on a lotus throne in a full lotus position, sitting in a serene and calm posture.

The original statue is a masterpiece of Vietnamese Buddhist art, listed as one of the 113 most typical treasures from Asian religious art including India, China, Korea, Japan... This is one of the treasures that clearly demonstrates the uniqueness of Vietnamese Buddhist art in the general flow of world Buddhist art.

The original consists of 3 statues representing 3 generations: Amitabha Buddha - presiding over the past, Shakyamuni Buddha - presiding over the present and Maitreya Buddha - presiding over the future. The statues are sitting in a meditative posture on a lotus throne, expressing simplicity and openness. The statues date back to the 17th century and were recognized as national treasures in 2020.

The original dates back to around the 17th century and was recognized as a national treasure in 2012. The statue is made of wood, 235cm high, sitting in a meditative posture, with 11 main faces facing the front and 2 side faces. The statue has 42 large arms, bare arms, hands in mudra and meditation postures. The rings of the secondary arms form a large circle placed separately behind the statue (including 789 arms), each hand has an eye.

The three statues of Tam The in Linh Ung Pagoda are all made of stone blocks with very large sizes (statue height 1.46m, including pedestal height 2.59m), weighing several tons. The statues are made entirely in a closed block with a large body. The uniqueness is also shown in the pedestal with the design and decorative motifs inheriting the quintessence of art from the Tran Dynasty, the Early Le Dynasty, and the Mac Dynasty, while honoring the ideal beauty of Buddhism.

The original was crafted around the 17th or 18th century. The sculpture depicts Prince Siddhartha's ascetic period before his enlightenment and becoming Buddha.

The original statue was crafted in the 19th century and recognized as a national treasure in 2018. The statue, made of jackfruit wood, sits on a lotus throne in a meditative pose, with 1,014 different hands and eyes, of which 42 are large hands arranged in pairs facing each other. The unique feature of the statue is that it has an extra pair of hands behind its back.