Duong Dinh Village Pagoda Relic

Like other pagodas in the region, Duong Dinh Pagoda (Nguyen Xa Tu) was built to worship Buddha - a religion introduced into our country from the early years of the Common Era. According to the inscription engraved on the bell bearing the reign title Minh Menh 19 (1838), still preserved in the pagoda, it states: “Nguyen Xa Pagoda had a large bell; in the Binh Ngo year, at the end of the Le dynasty, it encountered war and fire, so the bell was lost; now the village and people from all directions have contributed merit to recast a new bell...”

Duong Dinh Pagoda faces south, opposite Duong Dinh Shrine on a high plot of land. The pagoda is structured in a dinh-character plan, including a front hall and an upper sanctuary. The front hall is built 65 cm higher than the courtyard surface and is surrounded by a brick border. The building has three bays and two side wings, built in the style of enclosed gable walls with ngai-style arms, with four roofs. The pagoda roof is covered with old fish-tail tiles; the ridge and edge borders are built in the unadorned dinh-style ridge. In the middle of the ridge, a rectangle is built, on which three Chinese characters “Nguyen Xa Tu” are raised in relief; in front of the central bay, three steps up and down are built of fine-grained blue stone. The pagoda veranda is about 1.20 m wide. The front has three folding doors in the “upper lattice - lower panel” style, and the two side bays have round windows in the shape of the “longevity” character. In front of the front hall, adjoining the two veranda ends, two tall biểu pillars are built; the tops are decorated in relief with gourd shapes, and the pillar bodies also bear pairs of parallel sentences, but they have become faded. The plan of the front hall consists of four rows of columns. The wooden frame includes four truss types: the two central trusses are structured in the “chong ruong gia chieng, ha ke” style; the columns are round wood made in the “upper tapered, lower flared” style. The structure of the trusses in the pagoda consists mainly of supporting posts connected by longitudinal beams below and purlins above to form a solid frame to bear the entire weight of the roof. The ruong beams are made thin and low, placed on square corbels with thin, low tapering bases to increase the firmness of the building frame. The upper sanctuary is a three-bay longitudinal building, built in the style of enclosed gable walls with ngai-style arms, roofed with fish-tail tiles, and its ridge is built in the unadorned dinh-style ridge. The frame is structured in the “chong ruong gia chieng - ha ke” style; on the stacked-beam trusses, the side ruong beams are placed tightly on a large, thick horizontal beam, one end mortised deeply into the column and the other resting directly on the gable wall to support the entire weight of the roof. The decorative themes in the pagoda are somewhat simple but still create softness and elegance and contain the profound philosophical content of Buddhism in a relic with a history of several hundred years. In addition to the decoration on the architecture, the decoration concentrated on the curtain doors is also very lively: most of the curtain doors are carved in relief and openwork with the theme of a dragon facing the sun in the center, flanked by themes of the four sacred creatures, four precious plants, blooming chrysanthemums... flowing and soft, giving the relic a solemn, ancient beauty.

The Mother Goddess house behind the pagoda consists of three bays, built in the style of enclosed gable walls with ngai-style arms, roofed with traditional tiles, and the ridge is built in the dinh-style ridge. The frame is structured with two simple concrete truss types, and the floor is paved with Bat Trang bricks. Outside is an altar, above which is a statue of the Holy Monk. The inner bay houses Mother Goddess statues; the top level is the Tam Toa Holy Mothers (Mother Heaven, Mother Upper Forest, Mother Water), the Five Lords, Hoang Bay, Hoang Muoi, statues of young ladies, statues of young men...

The system of worship statues in the pagoda is arranged according to Buddhist regulations and carries the artistic style of the 19th century. In the highest Buddha hall is the set of Tam The statues, the eternal, abiding, wonderful Dharma Body, representing 3000 Buddhas of the three times: past, present, and future. The statue sits in meditation on a lotus throne about 1.20 m high, hands forming the samadhi mudra with the fingers interlaced and palms upturned on the lap, hair in snail-shell curls like a stupa rising to the crown of the head, a serene and benevolent face expressing the compassion and universal love of Buddhism, a straight nose bridge, a small mouth, and long earlobes expressing nobility and virtue; the eyes are half-closed, expressing the illumination of suffering sentient beings. The statue wears a two-layer kasaya robe covered with gilding, revealing the chest; the abdomen is slender, and the soft folds of the robe flow down to the lotus base, forming soft and graceful curves.

The second level is the Amitabha Trinity. The Amitabha statue sits in the center, about 1.30 m high, wearing a kasaya robe that reveals the chest, with hair in many layers of snail-shell curls, a slightly round face, a high straight nose bridge, thick ears, and a somewhat full neck. The statue is in a meditative posture on a two-tiered lotus base. Like the Tam The statues, the lotus base of the Amitabha statue dates from a later period and has little artistic character. Standing on either side of Amitabha are Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, wearing tiara-like crowns decorated with blooming chrysanthemums, floral vines, question-mark clouds, and fret patterns. The folds of the statues’ robes flow down to the feet in soft curves.

The third level is the Shakyamuni Holding a Flower statue, considerably larger than the other statues in the pagoda. The statue sits in meditation on a lotus base, the right hand raising a flower to face level, the left hand upturned on the lap, and the hair in many layers of snail-shell curls. The statue has a round, full face, a somewhat plump body, a kind, compassionate expression, and a full neck with two creases. The statue wears a two-layer kasaya robe. This is a statue newly carved by the pagoda to supplement its Buddha hall.

The fourth level is the set of Jade Emperor statues with Brahma and Indra on either side. The Jade Emperor sits in the center, wearing a binh thien crown decorated with a dragon facing the sun, clouds, question-mark clouds, floral vines; his feet wear hia shoes; the right hand holds a command tablet, the left hand holds a pearl; the statue wears a robe decorated with dragons and floral vines.

The fifth level is the Nine Dragons throne and a bronze statue of the infant Shakyamuni, around which many themes related to stories about the Buddha are depicted. In addition to the nine sacred dragons spraying water to bathe the Buddha at birth, there are also celestial beings and musicians descending from heaven to welcome him, and court music resounds throughout the sky. The statue seems to carry a pure and joyful primordial vitality.

On either side of Shakyamuni are statues of Maitreya and Snow Mountain. The Maitreya Bodhisattva statue is carved with a stout, plump body expressing fullness and a cheerful, carefree face. The statue wears a kasaya robe with few layers, sits slightly leaning back, with legs crossed and braced firmly, expressing “pure joy”; the belly is large and round, the chest is large and sagging, and the elbows rest on a “houtian” bag. The statue is composed naturally, not constrained by symmetry, and its beauty is enhanced by the meaning of liberation, unbound by the six senses and six dusts. Mai treya Buddha is also called the Honored One of Compassion. The Vietnamese have regarded Maitreya as a savior (when Maitreya appears, the world will be at peace). To the left of the Nine Dragons throne is the Snow Mountain statue, carved sitting on a snowy mountain with a gaunt body and a face full of suffering. The statue sits on a lotus base, one knee raised, the other leg lying down, the left hand holding a pearl placed on the left knee, the right hand resting naturally on the right leg, the body wearing a kasaya robe open at the chest. The Snow Mountain statue is a fully reflecting Shakyamuni’s thoughts during his ascetic practice: deep eyes, a gaunt body, as if reminding sentient beings not to follow asceticism but to practice non-attachment, not dependent on form, name, color, or appearance. Close to the left end of the upper sanctuary is a statue of Cundi Avalokitesvara, carved seated on a lotus throne with eleven pairs of hands. The main pair is clasped before the chest; the other arms radiate in various directions in mudras and hold sacred objects; the statue wears a tiara with a sun image on the rim, the body wears a kasaya robe revealing the chest, and the statue sits on a three-tiered lotus base. Opposite the Cundi Avalokitesvara statue is a Holy Monk statue. Along both sides of the upper sanctuary is the set of Ten Kings of Hell statues. In the two end bays of the front hall are statues of Encouraging Good - Punishing Evil, Duc Ong, and the Holy Monk.

The system of free-standing statues made of wood in Duong Dinh Pagoda currently has 54 statues, including Buddha statues, Patriarch statues, and Mother Goddess statues, carved meticulously and in detail with balanced, harmonious, and symmetrical composition for each statue, making the pagoda’s Buddha hall more diverse and attractive. The statues of typical artistic value in the pagoda are the Tam The set, the Amitabha Trinity, the Jade Emperor, Brahma, Indra... which carry the artistic style of the 19th century. Besides the Buddha statues, the Dharma Protector statues, Holy Monk, Duc Ong, Patriarch, and Mother Goddess statues are also carved quite standardly with high portraiture quality and a realistic, folk-like style.

Currently, Duong Dinh Pagoda still preserves a diverse collection of relics in terms of materials, rich in types and carrying the artistic value of the 19th-20th centuries, such as: bronze bells, stone steles bearing Nguyen dynasty reign titles, altars, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences... These relics, in addition to their artistic value, are also valuable historical sources contributing to understanding the history of art, customs, and practices of a countryside rich in cultural traditions.

Duong Dinh Pagoda was ranked as a historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2009.