Bai Dinh Pagoda is a wonderful spiritual tourist destination. That is the feeling of tourists who have come to this sacred, mysterious, and pure place. Maybe you don’t know, Bai Dinh Pagoda is the pagoda that owns the most national records in Vietnam and is mentioned by the press as a big pagoda with Asian and regional records. In your opinion, what are those records? Let’s find out the answer with the Vietnam Reviewer in the article below.
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Top 8 Records of Bai Dinh Pagoda – Ninh Binh that attract tourists that you may not know
Asia’s largest gold-plated bronze Buddha statue
Bai Dinh Pagoda is located in Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex in Gia Sinh commune, Gia Vien District, Ninh Binh Province. Bai Dinh Pagoda Complex includes two architectural works: Bai Dinh Tan and Bai Dinh Co Tu. Currently, both temples still exist and religious activities take place on the same 1,700-hectare campus. About 18km from Ninh Binh City and 100 km from Hanoi’s capital, Bai Dinh Pagoda has become a center of activities and organization of spiritual and cultural events not only in Vietnam but also in the entire Asia region. Some international programs include: The 2014 United Nations Vesak Celebration Program and the International Buddhist Conference held in 2014 or the World Peace Prayer Program, Praying for Truth. UNESCO’s Peace Idea became a reality held in 2011 all took place here.
The statue of Sakyamuni Buddha sitting quietly on a lotus throne and reciting lotus flowers in the Dharma Master Palace holds the record as the largest gold-plated pure bronze Buddha statue in Asia. This record was established in 2012. This is also considered a symbol of the sacred and quiet Bai Dinh pagoda. The Buddha statue is 10 m high, weighs 100 tons, is made of gold-plated bronze, and is placed on a 1.5 m high pedestal. The statue was cast by bronze artisans in Thuong Dong village, Yen Tien commune, Y Yen district, Nam Dinh province, and is supported by a reinforced concrete frame with imitation wood up to the roof of nearly 30 m; 44.7m long, 43.3m wide.
The largest bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha in Southeast Asia
The Maitreya Buddha statue is a familiar image in Buddhist folk beliefs, a symbol of human joy and happiness. It is not difficult to see the image of Maitreya Buddha with a radiant smile, chubby body, and a comfortable, leisurely sitting appearance displayed in households, in temples, and especially in some famous landmarks. Visit the spiritual tourist area of Bai Dinh Pagoda, the temple is confirmed to have set the most records in Asia for extremely sophisticated statues with “huge” sizes. Typical among them is the bronze Maitreya Buddha Statue.
The 100-ton bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha sitting on the hill of Bai Dinh Pagoda outside Tam The Palace is the largest bronze Maitreya Buddha statue in Southeast Asia. Even though it is at a high altitude, pilgrims coming here cannot miss this place. Standing on high, admiring the beauty of the Buddha statue, praying for peace and happiness for the family, there is nothing more calming and relaxing than that. At the temple festival, people from all over come to pay their respects at the temple. Many people also put money and rub it on the Buddha statue to bring luck during the pilgrimage.
The largest temple complex in Vietnam
Located about 2 hours by motorbike from the capital Hanoi, Bai Dinh Pagoda is located on the sacred strip of land “mountains meet the river, clouds play with the peaks” in Sinh Duoc village, Gia Sinh, Gia Vien, Ninh Binh. The Bai Dinh Pagoda complex has an area established as the largest in Vietnam with 539 hectares, including 27 hectares of the ancient Bai Dinh Pagoda area, 80 hectares of the new Bai Dinh Pagoda area built in 2003, and other items such as public works. Cultural park, Buddhist academy, roads, parking lot, Dam Thi lake area… In particular, surrounding the pagoda are magnificent and poetic limestone mountain arcs.
The new Bai Dinh Pagoda includes architectural items located on the terrain from low to high, 5 levels along the main road: Tam Quan, bell tower, Quan Am shrine, Phap Chu shrine, and at the top is the Tam Tam temple. Position. Prominent among them is Tam The Palace with a height of 34m and an area of 2,370 m2, containing three Buddha statues each 7.2m high, weighing 50 tons cast in solid bronze, confirmed to be the Tam The Ice statue set Vietnam’s largest currency.
The pagoda has the largest bronze bell in Vietnam
On the way to Bai Dinh Pagoda, located on the left side of the Arhat corridor, visitors will visit the bell tower. This place holds the record for the largest Dai Hong Chung in Vietnam (2007). The bell weighs 36 tons and has a diameter of 3.45 m; 5.40 m high, used for chanting and worship, placed in an ancient bell tower with an octagonal architecture of 22 m high, with 3 levels of the curved roof. On the body of the bell is engraved the Great Compassion and Prajnaparamita Sutra from the Buddhist scriptures in Chinese characters and many decorative patterns on Buddhist themes.
The bell tower in Bai Dinh Pagoda (Ninh Binh) is where the “huge” Dai Hong Chung and Bronze Drum are kept in Vietnam today. The bell tower was built in an octagonal shape, 3 floors high, with 2 stairs up and down to visit the Great Hong Chung and Bronze Drum. Prominent in the bell tower is the largest bell tower in Vietnam made by a Hue artisan. The bell was cast in Hue and then took many days to be transported to Bai Dinh Pagoda and placed in the bell tower.
The pagoda has the largest jade well in Vietnam
Bai Dinh Pagoda is also home to the largest jade well in Vietnam. This record was established in 2007. From Tam Quan, take 300 stone steps down to the foot of Bai Dinh mountain to reach the pearl well. The moon-shaped well is very wide, 30 m in diameter, and 6 m deep, and the water during the jade season reflects the sky and clouds. And the special thing is that the well never runs out of water. The stone railing running around the mouth of the well looks very beautiful. The land around the well is square, with an area of 0.6 hectares with 4 octagonal floors on 4 corners, with lush green grass and flowers blooming all year round. Legend has it that nearly 1,000 years ago, Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong took water to make medicine to treat poor people and Crown Prince Duong Hoan.
In the past, no one knew, Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong (founder of Bai Dinh Pagoda) was warned by the gods in a dream that there was a precious water source at the foot of the mountain near the pagoda. After that, he took water from the well to make medicine to cure the people. Today, when the ancient and new Bai Dinh pagodas are renovated and built, the Ngoc well is also repaired. Currently, the well has a moon shape, a diameter of nearly 30 m wide, and a depth of about 6m. The well mouth is built around Dinh mountain stone. The campus around the well is built in a square shape with an area of up to 6,000 square meters, with four octagonal floors at the four corners. The surrounding landscape is planted with shade trees. To get to the well, you have to go through a very beautiful stone gate.
The temple area has the longest Arhat corridor in Asia
Visitors to Bai Dinh Pagoda will be extremely impressed with the two long, closed corridors leading to the mountain pagodas and the path down. That is also the longest Arhat corridor in Asia. This record was established in 2012. The length of each corridor is about 1,700 m with 250 compartments, each compartment has dimensions of 4.5 m x 4.5 m. The two corridors were built with 10,000 cubic meters of wood and were carved and assembled by 100 artisans and 700 workers.
First, we must understand that Arhat was a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha. In Hinayana Buddhism, Arhat is the final state of a being on the path to liberation, having gone through the four stages of Arhatship, reaching a very high level of achievement, that is, cultivating has passed. attain enlightenment, reach the eternal peace of Nirvana, and escape the cycle of birth and death. In Mahayana Buddhism, Arhat is replaced by Bodhisattva. If he liberates himself, the Bodhisattva can help others also be liberated. Therefore, according to Buddhist concepts, the Arhats placed at Bai Dinh Pagoda are to be close to, guide, and educate sentient beings.
The pagoda has the most Arhat statues in Vietnam
Bai Dinh Pagoda is a large pagoda complex with many Asian and Vietnamese records established such as the pagoda with the largest gold-plated bronze Buddha statue in Asia, the pagoda with the longest Arhat corridor in Asia, and the Maitreya statue. The largest bronze temple in Southeast Asia… This is the largest temple and owns the most records in Vietnam. In particular, the pagoda is also confirmed to have the most Han statues in Vietnam.
Walking in the Arhat corridor with a total length of nearly 3 km, visitors will admire a large number of Arhat statues. Each corridor contains 250 Arhat statues carved from monolithic stone, each statue is 2 to 2.5 m high. The special thing that shows the talented crafting hands of Ninh Binh stonemasons is that each statue has a different shape and charisma, expressing the philosophy of religion with the emotions of joy, anger, love, and hate in the soul. people’s daily life. Therefore, Bai Dinh Pagoda holds the record for being the pagoda with the most Arhat statues in Vietnam.
The pagoda grows the most Bodhi trees in Vietnam
Bai Dinh Pagoda is the pagoda with the most Bodhi trees in our country ever. According to Buddhist legends, the Bodhi tree played an important role in the life of the Buddha because the Buddha meditated under the Bodhi tree and gradually became enlightened by the teachings of Buddhism. From then on, according to belief, a nun went to that Bodhi tree and took branches to plant in India.
Therefore, when building Bai Dinh Pagoda, 100 third-generation Bodhi trees extracted from Indian Bodhi trees were planted here to demonstrate the sacredness of the pagoda. All the Bodhi trees planted on the occasion of the United Nations Day of Vesak in Vietnam in 2008 have now numbered thousands of trees growing around the pagoda.
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Through this article, you certainly understand why Bai Dinh Pagoda is now an ideal spiritual tourism destination not only for domestic tourists but also international tourists. You can worship Buddha to pray for peace and luck while enjoying the wonderful natural scenery and unique architecture. If you haven’t been to this place yet, what are you waiting for, pack your backpack and go. Vietnam Reviewer hopes that all of you will have a nice trip to Halong Bay. If you have any feedback or need help, please send an email to vietnamreviewer.contact@gmail.com!
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