Dai Tue Pagoda
Dai Tue Pagoda is an ancient pagoda built in the 14th century to worship Buddha Dai Tue - Buddha Mother Ma Ha Bat Nha Ba La Mat Da (meaning Great Wisdom leads to enlightenment to Buddha Mother), located on Dai Hue mountain, in Nam Anh commune, Nam Dan district.
Legend has it that the pagoda was built over 600 years ago by King Ho Quy Ly and Ho Han Thuong to worship Buddha Dai Tue - who had the merit of helping the Ho Dynasty build a citadel and ramparts on Dai Hue mountain to fight against the Ming invaders. When King Quang Trung marched to the North and defeated 290,000 Qing troops in the Spring of Ky Dau year 1789, he stayed here. At night, the nun at the pagoda advised him to follow the upper road (Truong Bang) to march to Thang Long citadel quickly and avoid ambushes. When he returned victorious, Emperor Quang Trung issued an edict to cut 20 acres of land for the pagoda's fields.
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The temple is located on an area of about 600m.2, at an altitude of more than 450m above sea level in a quiet space, poetic and charming scenery. Standing here, you can look far away, admire the whole area of surrounding relics and scenic spots. Dai Tue Pagoda and Dai Hue Mountain can be considered one of the famous scenic spots of Nghe An. This is a religious belief project, a famous spiritual and cultural place for the people in the area.
Since ancient times, the pagoda has had a monk in charge, performing rituals such as chanting sutras, worshiping Buddha, praying for luck, praying for wealth, prescribing medicine, and saving people. People, Buddhists, and tourists often come to the pagoda to visit, worship, and enjoy the scenery. The pagoda was built of wood, and later built of bricks. After hundreds of years with many historical events, natural events, and weather impacts, Dai Tue Pagoda has now become ruins, with sacrificial objects lost and scattered.
Currently, the remaining vestiges of the pagoda are 3 brick statues 2.2m high; 0.5m thick, surrounding the area with a stone embankment about 20m wide, 30m long. To the east of the pagoda is a tomb made of stone about 1m high, which people believe is the tomb of King Canh Thinh. 50m northeast of the pagoda is a well surrounded by stone used for rituals. Currently, there are only a few artifacts preserved at the relic such as Buddha statues, sacrificial objects, scriptures, stone steles, lotus ponds...
More than 10 years ago, local people voluntarily donated to restore a small house on the old pagoda's foundation. The Military Region 4 Command and a number of businesses also donated to build a road from the foot of the mountain to the relic to facilitate people, Buddhists, and tourists to visit the pagoda.
In order to preserve and promote a valuable historical - cultural relic, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of Buddhists and people in the area, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee, after consideration, agreed to restore Dai Tue Pagoda in the near future. And in early October 2009, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized a scientific workshop "Restoring Dai Tue Pagoda" with the aim of clarifying the origin, content, architecture, landscape, culture, and current status of Dai Tue Pagoda. The restoration of Dai Tue Pagoda in the near future has an important meaning in preserving and promoting the national cultural heritage, meeting the aspirations of worshipping Buddha, doing good, and the spiritual and cultural needs of the people, while creating another beautiful architectural and spiritual work, associated with the scenic spot of Dai Hue mountain, the tomb of Mrs. Hoang Thi Loan to serve domestic and international tourists.
Thanh Hien
