Tran Dang Pagoda

Tran Dang Pagoda is located in Tran Dang Village, Ung Thien Commune, Hanoi City.

The pagoda has a traditional layout comprising main structures such as the bell tower (two storeys with eight curved roofs and a pair of intricately carved stone dragons from the late 16th century), the Front Hall, and the Upper Hall, built on a high foundation and covered with ancient mũi hài tiles.

This place also preserves a rich collection of ancient Buddha statues, especially the statue of Shakyamuni, the Teacher, seated on a lotus pedestal with a stone base, a pair of Tran-dynasty dragons, and a finely carved lotus stone incense altar in the Upper Hall.

The pagoda is near Tran Dang Communal House (where General Cao Lo of the An Duong Vuong period is worshipped), forming a long-standing historical-cultural relic complex of the ancient village.

The pagoda includes: the bell tower, the Front Hall, and the Upper Hall. The first structure is the bell tower with two storeys and eight curved roofs, with a fairly solid architectural structure. Outside there is a pair of stone dragons, carved in late-16th-century artistic style. Past the bell tower is the Front Hall, with solid gable walls, a traditional folding-door façade, and a king-post truss-style roof frame. The Upper Hall is the last structure, built on a foundation 70 cm higher than the Front Hall, with its roof covered in ancient mũi hài tiles. The architecture is mainly smoothly planed and tightly joined, while the beam ends are carved as dragon heads in Le-dynasty artistic style, and the y môn are carved in the 19th century.

The statues in the pagoda are rich and diverse in the Upper Hall. At the top is the set of Three-Time Buddhas; the second row is the set of the Three Saints of Huayan, including the standing Shakyamuni Buddha in the center, flanked by Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva with their hands forming the lotus mudra. The third row is Manjushri and Samantabhadra, with a small Tuyet Son in the middle. The fourth row is Cundi Avalokitesvara and the Golden Boy and Jade Girl. The fifth row is Nam Tao and Bac Dau. The sixth row is the Jade Emperor, flanked by Brahma and Indra. Finally is the newborn Shakyamuni statue... In terms of the artistic value of ancient statue carving, mention must be made of the Shakyamuni Buddha statue. He sits on a lotus throne in the lotus position, with a kind face, a faint smile, a broad chest and slender belly, the character 'van' (swastika) carved in the center of his chest, and a kasaya robe clinging to his body. The lotus pedestal consists of four layers of upward-facing petals and two layers of downward-facing petals, with thick, raised petals decorated with 17th-century-style patterns. The South Sea Avalokitesvara statue has its hands forming the Cundi mudra. The statue was made in the 18th century, and the details on the crown have softened and lost their raised form. Below, a demon supports the entire statue, making it look gaudy. This is a rarely seen beautiful statue. Next are the 19th-century Holy Monk and Earth God statues, crafted in a balanced and harmonious manner.

Among the precious relics is a stone incense altar dating from the Tran dynasty. The decorative motifs on this incense altar are similar to those on the stone incense altar at Xuan Lung Pagoda in Phu Tho (1392). The incense altar is rectangular, nearly 3 m long and 0.80 m high; on top is a lotus pedestal with three layers of upward-facing petals and one layer of downward-facing petals. In the center of the lotus petals is a flower formed by one bead joined around a smaller bead. The body of the incense altar is carved with dragons on the front. At the four corners are Garuda symbols. On the bottom row at the four corners are bamboo-shoot-sheath motifs and a whole system of lân in the form of lions playing with balls, early artistic works of the Vietnamese people. Researchers also affirm that during the Mac dynasty there was a major restoration at the pagoda, because a rather large tile and a ceramic lotus pedestal used as the base of the newborn Shakyamuni statue were found.