Đông Village Pagoda “Linh Sơn Tự”

Đông Village Pagoda was founded around the 18th century on a land with a long history and longstanding cultural tradition. One of the most proud features of the people of Ba Vì is the fierce patriotism and steadfast resistance against foreign invaders to protect the homeland and country. That tradition has run through all eras, from the time of our ancestors who first established the village to the resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism. Promoting the fine traditions of the homeland, the people of Tây Đằng strive to emulate, work and produce, overcome poverty, build an increasingly rich, beautiful and civilized homeland, and continue writing golden pages of history for their homeland. The pagoda is the cultural activity center of the community, a place that preserves and safeguards the traditional cultural values of the locality, and also a place of education guiding people toward good things in life.

Through many renovations and repairs, Đông Village Pagoda has still retained its tangible architectural complex with traditional architectural style, namely the roof trusses made of wood, smoothly planed and tightly joined, decorated with some floral and patterned motifs. The relic system includes many types and materials such as stone objects, wooden objects, bronze objects, ceramic and porcelain objects... Of note is the system of round statues such as Buddha statues and Mother Goddess statues of the pagoda, which are meticulously and proportionately crafted; each statue distinctly describes the individual character of each figure while still reflecting the Buddha's qualities of compassion, joy, and equanimity.

In addition, the pagoda also preserves bronze bells, bronze gongs, along with a system of horizontal lacquered boards, couplets, and door curtains... These are materials that help research and understand the date of the pagoda's founding as well as its renovations and embellishments through each period; at the same time, they are historical sources that help research and understand many aspects of the locality in the course of national history.

Đông Village Pagoda worships Buddha according to Mahayana Buddhism and worships the Mother Goddess; it is the cultural activity center of the local community, a place that preserves and safeguards the traditional cultural values of the locality, and also a place of education guiding people toward good things in life. The presence of the pagoda is an indispensable symbol of every rural village, expressing the aspiration of every working person in the countryside for a peaceful and serene life.