Sacred Dai Tue Pagoda

(Baonghean) -For over 600 years, Dai Tue Pagoda has been a sacred place in the spiritual life of the people of Nghe An. This place has been associated with many historical events of the country and contains many legends...

Old Dai Tue Pagoda.

It has been three generations since my great-grandfather left Xuan Ho village to live in the capital. The old village was famous throughout Nghe An as “Xuan Ho scholars” with many talented Confucian disciples, Trinh scholars, many scholars, and patriotic scholars - my grandfather often proudly told me about this when he was alive. His stories included Nam Anh village, with Dai Hue mountain range built like a wall. On that high mountain, there was a small but sacred pagoda, with a chess board, a fairy’s tomb, and a king’s stone throne. On this side of Nam Anh mountain, there was a golden turtle that was hundreds of years old; on the other side of Nhon mountain, there was a big snake that still crossed the rice fields. Nam Dan was a sacred land of talented people, “famous places come and go again”, as a child I imagined this place as a legendary land.

Returning to the anniversary of his death, after the ceremony, his cherished desire to find his childhood dream fulfilled, the patriarch named Cuong, not yet 30 years old, invited him to visit the temple.

From Nam Anh village, follow the mountain road to Dai Tue pagoda about 5km, the road is under construction so it is bumpy and difficult to travel. The purple flowers bloom on the mountainside, higher up is the green pine forest. Standing on Thang Thien slope, looking far away is the whole country and mountains of Lam river delta, in the distance is Vinh city, Cua Lo, the East sea, with Hon Mat, Hon Ngu, overlapping mountains, rice fields like a watercolor painting. This place is very quiet, only the sound of wind, chirping birds, and cooing birds can be heard.

Dai Hue is also known as Phong Van Son. Dai Tue is the most sacred mountain in Nghe An. In the 7th century AD, Mai Hac De relied on the mountain to establish a base to raise the flag of uprising. In the early 15th century, the National Founder, Emperor Ho Quy Ly, built the citadel of Nghe An Chau to fight against the invading Ming army. To achieve the great victory in the spring of Ky Dau (1789), Emperor Quang Trung marched through here and stopped for a few days to recruit and train soldiers before marching north to defeat 290,000 Qing troops. Dai Hue is also the resting place of King Mai's mother and Uncle Ho's mother... At Thang Thien slope, Dai Tue pagoda appears with the monks' and nuns' quarters. This is a newly built area. As for the old and new pagodas, we have to go further up. At the quarters, we met monk Thich Minh Quang, who is in charge of the current pagoda construction.

The monk said: According to legend, Dai Tue Pagoda was built during the reign of King Mai, but history only recorded the birth of the pagoda during the reign of King Ho Quy Ly. The pagoda was built to worship Buddha Dai Tue, because Buddha appeared to help the king build the citadel to fight the enemy. This is the only pagoda in Vietnam to worship Buddha Dai Tue (representing the wisdom of Buddha with Wisdom, Sword Wisdom, Strength Wisdom, Mind Wisdom, Eyes Wisdom, Eyes Wisdom). The first abbot of the pagoda, who took care of and offered incense and worshiped, was Princess Thai Duong, daughter of King Ho Quy Ly. Many monks followed her to practice here, one of whom gave a plan to King Quang Trung to march along the Non Bang route, avoiding the enemy's eyes and ears, shortening the way to Thang Long.

Dai Tue Pagoda is under new construction.

The pagoda is located at an altitude of 500m above sea level. The landscape here remains the same as the poem by Hoang Giap Bui Huy Bich 300 years ago: "The sky spreads the mountain range as if spreading its wings/ The earth shapes the river like a curved line". The ancestral hall of Dai Tue pagoda is a small, clean hermitage, inside is a statue of Buddha Tam The, a stone stele, Buddhist scriptures, some incense bowls, and ancient ceramic bowls. Today is not a holiday or a full moon day, but the number of people coming to the pagoda to visit and burn incense is quite large. For centuries, Dai Tue has been a place of religious activities for people around Nam Dan and Nghi Loc. Monk Minh Quang softly recited an ancient poem that people still recite: "The stone throne is sturdy/ The stone bell rings loudly/ The stone gong echoes across/ The altar is on top/ The lotus pond has a faint fragrance/ The holy water well is full/ The pagoda is in the clouds/ The man built it, the creator of it"... All the artifacts described in the poem are located not far from this ancestral hall.

About 100m west of the temple there is a large rock about 2m high.³, when a stone is struck, the sound is like a wooden fish, called the Wooden Fish Stone; to the northeast there is a similar stone but when struck it sounds like a bronze bell, called the Bell Stone. In front of the pagoda there is a large stone that looks like a chair, called the Stone Chair. Not far from the pagoda is a well that never dries up all year round. In the book "Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi" it is recorded: This is one of the six sacred water sources of Vietnam that Minh Thai To annually sent envoys to worship there.

Right next to the Ancestral Temple are two large ancient tombs made of stone, which have existed here for hundreds of years. The tombs are carefully burned with incense because the people believe that one is the tomb of a fairy and the other is the tomb of Emperor Canh Thinh Nguyen Quang Toan (son of King Quang Trung Nguyen Hue). The truth is not clear, but every year on the 20th of the 10th lunar month, the Ho people in Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen hold a memorial service for King Canh Thinh here.

Dai Tue Pagoda is currently under construction. The pagoda was started in April 2011, with a planned construction area of ​​over 20 hectares with nearly 20 construction items, from the Dai Tue Buddha Mother Tower, the main hall, the Shakyamuni Temple, the four halls of the Four Great Bodhisattvas, the Zen hall, the Pure Land Hall, the Patriarch Hall and the Rebirth Hall, the bell tower, the lecture hall, the library, the dining hall, the monks' and nuns' dormitory, the guest house, the three-entrance gate, the large square, along with many statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, bells, and other dharma instruments. Around the pagoda, fruit trees and medicinal plants will be planted, roads will be built to the pagoda, a landscaped garden, a lake, a parking lot, and a low-voltage station. Looking at the ancient architecture of the left wing, right wing, and bell tower; The 9-storey towers, main hall, monks' quarters, guest house, lotus pond are under construction. Suddenly, I imagined Bai Dinh, or some majestic ancient pagodas hidden in the clouds in China that I have been to...

Leaving Dai Tue Pagoda, monk Thich Minh Quang promised: “Next time, if you come to visit the pagoda, the road will definitely be more convenient. This year, Nghe An province is continuing to complete the road to the pagoda; the pagoda is also asking to open another road from Nghi Loc district, so from Cua Lo, the North, the distance to go in will also be shorter. Since Dai Tue brought the Buddha's relics here, more tourists from all over the world have come to visit and worship”…

Thanh Son