Ngu Cau Pagoda

Ngu Cau Pagoda is located in Ngu Cau Village, An Khanh Commune, Hanoi. The villagers of Ngu Cau have long valued fine customs and traditions. At present, their main occupation is agriculture; there are also side occupations such as silk weaving, hired work, net knitting, and producing starch for arrowroot noodles. Ngu Cau Pagoda is named after the village. The pagoda also has the courtesy name Vuong Le Pagoda and is a center of Buddhist worship. Ngu Cau Pagoda is next to Ngu Cau Communal House, about 20 km west of Hanoi.

According to oral tradition, Ngu Cau Pagoda has existed for a very long time, but based on the current state of its artistic architecture and the ritual objects in the pagoda, the scale of the present pagoda is the result of major renovations in the 19th century.

The steles at the pagoda have also been destroyed. In the pagoda courtyard only two turtles remain, with holes in their backs. These holes were where the steles were placed. Based on the stone carving art, both stone turtles date to the 18th century. The statues in the pagoda's Tam Bao also date to the 18th century: these are the three statues of the 'Amitabha Trinity' set; the other statues in the pagoda date to the 19th century. On the ridgepole of the pagoda's front hall only Chinese characters are nailed: 'Hoang trieu bao dai, nham ngo nien' (1932). Most architectural components have been repaired many times.

Ngu Cau Pagoda was not only used as a place of Buddhist worship. It is a place that entrusts the skills of past artisans through decorations on the architecture. Through the talent of casting, carving, molding statues, and lacquering and gilding, the pagoda is not only a place that preserves and witnesses the Buddhist devotion of the people of Ngu Cau. The pagoda also became an evacuation site, a place for living and working of agencies in the former Ha Tay Province during the resistance war against the Americans.

In 1965, the Ha Tay Planning Committee, chaired by Mr. Nguyen Dinh So, evacuated to the pagoda. In the same year, the Ha Tay Provincial Military Command, with Commander Le Hien Huu, came to stay and work at the pagoda. A fairly large underground bunker in the pagoda garden was where Major General Ho Ky, Deputy Prime Minister Do Muoi, representatives of the Navy, Air Force, Army, and some district military commands came to meet. In 1980, a special forces unit was stationed in the village - its commanders evacuated there until 1987, then moved elsewhere. From 1982, the Military Medical Department also stationed troops at Ngu Cau Pagoda. In 1980, a special forces unit came to station, and in 1987 it moved elsewhere. In 1982, the Military Medical Department came to stay at the pagoda, and in 1987 it moved away.

Over many years, witnessing many changes in the homeland and country, the pagoda alone has also changed with the years. Today, looking at the architecture and art of the pagoda, we can imagine the history, developments, and turbulent changes of an architectural and artistic relic.

Ngu Cau Pagoda is located on a high, airy plot of land in the village; the pagoda faces west and is structured in the shape of the Chinese character Dinh: including the front hall and rear sanctuary; to the right behind the front hall is the ancestor house; in the pagoda garden there is a fairly large underground bunker, built very solidly, with entrances and places to avoid bombs, called Son Binh, where troops were stationed and evacuated during the years of resistance against the Americans to save the country.

The front hall is a three-bay, two-wing building with a floor plan of six rows of feet; the column row is now built of mortar in cylindrical bag shape. The four roof trusses are structured in the style of 'upper bed - middle bracket - lower rafter'; the roof is in the 'upper four - lower four' style; the round wooden columns are made in the 'thuong thu - ha thach' style; all columns are placed on bird-shaped stone bases.

One row of feet in the central bay and one row of feet in the side bay have wooden columns replaced by cement columns; the ridgepole bears the inscription 'Hoang trieu bao dai nham ngo nien, dinh mui nguyet cat suu nhat; ngo thoi, thanh long - hoang dao truc, thuong luong, dai cat; ridgepole-raising in 1940.'

The rear sanctuary, its front gable attached to the central bay of the front hall, is a three-bay, one-wing building. Its floor plan has four rows of feet; wooden columns are placed on bird-shaped stone bases; the rows of wooden columns are also made in the thuong thu - ha thach style; the roof is in the 'upper four - lower four' style. The veranda column is replaced by a brick wall because of the 'chong giuong - tru gia chieng' structure.

The dimensions help us visualize the architectural scale of the pagoda. Front hall: main column diameter 0.31 m; base diameter 0.37 m; secondary column diameter 0.27 m; base diameter 0.32 m; veranda column side 0.28 m; distance between main columns 2.76 m; distance between main column and secondary column 1.2 m; distance between secondary column and veranda column 1.27 m; central bay width 2.85 m; side bay width 2.75 m; wing width 1.7 m.

Rear sanctuary: main column diameter 0.31 m; base diameter 0.30 m; distance between main columns 2.85 m; distance between main column and wall 1 m; outer bay width 2.7 m

Central bay width 2.7 m; inner bay width 2.3 m.

In front of the front hall: on both sides of the architecture are two brick-and-mortar pillar monuments, square in cross-section, decorated at the top with four animals, tails pointing upward and touching each other; the body is decorated with geometric patterns; the top is placed on the pillar body, four heads facing the four corners of the pillar monument; the roof ridge is made of overlapping tiles, the roof covered with flat tiles; on the roof ridge of the central bay of the front hall, a rectangular mortar plaque is embossed, with geometric patterns around the border, and in the middle are three large Chinese characters 'Vuong Le Tu' (Vuong Le Pagoda).

The two ends of the roof ridge are decorated with scrolls; the blades and ridges are built high; the middle of the ridge curves upward in a scroll shape; the wooden roof edge is decorated with carved plant motifs. The rafter heads are carved with seal-script characters. The rafter bodies are decorated with plant and seal-script motifs.

The main folding-door set is decorated with rectangular upper sections with wooden bars; the door leaves are tall; the rafter is carved with bamboo-joint cloud patterns; the side beams are decorated with plant motifs. The corner brackets are decorated with dragons, seal-script characters, and dragon-phoenix (bamboo transforming into dragon); the curved tie beams are decorated with seal-script cloud patterns; the bed frames are decorated with scroll patterns; the roof trusses are decorated with plant motifs. On the bed ends of the trusses in the central bay of the front hall is carved the Buddhist phrase 'Om mani padme hum'.

The two middle trusses are pierced with seal-script characters; the corner bracket of the second truss on the left, in front of the front hall, is decorated with a carved panel themed 'bamboo transforming into dragon'; the dragon has two goat horns, bulging eyes, flared nose, mouth holding a pearl, the dragon head grows out of bamboo joints, facing the upper roof wall; above the dragon is an image of a phoenix with its head on a bamboo branch, its body showing bamboo leaves. The corner bracket of the right bay is decorated with a relief themed 'dragon rolling water'. The lower dragon is molded facing the roof truss, its mouth holding a pearl, with two bulging eyes; the upper dragon is shown with its head facing out to the veranda, mouth spraying water, flared nose, bulging eyes, lying in a layer projecting straight up onto the roof.

From the outside of the front hall, the left bay contains a set of statues of the Holy Sage, and the right bay contains the statue of Duc Ong.

The rear sanctuary consists of five layers of statues: the first layer is bronze statues; the second layer in the middle is the Nine Dragons Statue and the Shakyamuni Statue at Birth. On both sides are Brahma and Indra statues. The third layer is Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta statues, the fourth layer is the Amitabha statue, and the top layer no longer has the Three Worlds statues and is replaced by a stone deer statue.

Ngu Cau Pagoda was ranked as a national-level Historical-Cultural Relic under Decision No. 208/VH/QD dated March 13, 1990 of the Ministry of Culture in 1990.