Millennium Temple, located in the village of Sai Extract, Grapefruit Guild, Tay Ho district, Hanoi.

Lying on the bank of Ho Tay and hiding under the shade of ancient trees, Thien Nien pagoda is a pagoda which was considered to be the most beautiful and ancient pagoda in the west of Thang Long Citadel.

Table of Contents

I/ Introduction……… 2

II/ Historical Background………3

III/ Religious Beliefs and Practices……….4

IV/ Architecture, Statues and Altars………5

1 Architecture……… 5

2 Statues and Altars……… 9

V/ Heroes, Legends and Festivals………15

VI/ Advice for Visitors……….16

VII/ List of References……… 18

I INTRODUCTION

In recent years, Vietnam has become one of the most famous destinations in the world Every year, there are many foreign tourists traveling to Vietnam They visit Vietnam for many purposes such as: business, vacation… but as we see their main purpose is learning about Vietnam culture or visiting some famous landscapes in Vietnam And especially, many of them like visiting pagodas in Vietnam

In Asia countries, pagoda is a very special and sacred place It makes people who come to visit pagoda feel very safe, peaceful And if they can understand about the pagoda where they visit, it will be more interesting That is the reason why we write this report This is also a good chance for us

to know more about pagoda, about language which is used to talk about pagoda It is very useful and good for our job in the future After finishing this report, we also know how to organize information in the report, and especially our English writing skill has improved very much

So we would like to thank our teachers very much who gave us this project and helped us this project successfully

As you know, in Vietnam, here are so many pagodas, people can visit pagoda in every province with many sizes from small to very large Some pagodas are very famous such as: Perfume pagoda, Kim Lien pagoda, Ba Da pagoda, Tran Quoc pagoda… Numbers of tourist come to see these pagodas

is very high

But in this project, we would like to introduce to you one pagoda which is not very famous but it is very beautiful and ancient, it is Thien Nien pagoda, located in Trich Sai village, Buoi Guild, Tay Ho district, Hanoi

We choose this pagoda because two main reasons:

- We had some chances to visit Thien Nien pagoda It is very large, ancient It is not so far for us to come

- We have read some interesting information about this pagoda and it makes us confident to discover carefully

Thien Nien pagoda was recognized as a historical and cultural site by state in

31st, January, 1992

II HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Lying on the bank of Ho Tay and hiding under the shade of ancient trees, Thien Nien pagoda is a pagoda which was considered to be the most beautiful and ancient pagoda in the west of Thang Long Citadel

According to history of this pagoda, in the past, West Lake area is a stone wood forest There was a fox with nine tails living in a small mountain

in the forest It always appeared to disturb domestic animal and people

King Ly Nam De was very worried about this problem and decided to send two princesses on learning miracles to kill the fox On the way to learn miracles, two princesses met a saint who is named Huyen Thien Hac De (the King of black cloud and rain) He knew the aims of them and decided to help them

After 100 days, two princesses had mastered miracles, they killed the fox So that, after they died, King Ly decided to build this pagoda to dedicate two princesses

The official name of the pagoda is Thien Nien but local people nowadays call it Trich Sai pagoda because it is located in Trich Sai village Thien Nien pagoda was built under the reign of King Ly Nam De in the sixth century Fifteenth centuries has passed, the appearance of the pagoda has changed a lot after many restoration and repairs But Thien Nien pagoda as you see today is the result of a big restoration undertaken in the middle of the 19th century However, from 15th century until now, it was rebuilt many times especially in 2002 with the surrounding walls and all names of people who helped to rebuild pagoda were written on the stone stele in pagoda

This pagoda is very large It covers area of about 10000 m2 It is surrounding by many big trees and lies on the bank of West Lake It is very pleasant for people coming here

Inside the pagoda, there is a small bell It was castled in 1862 (under the reign of King Minh Mang) and 41 statues are kept inside pagoda

III RELIGIOUS, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

As you know, Buddhism had its origins in India, it was founded by a crow prince Siddhartha

The main idea of Buddhism is to help people to get away from all sufferings of the life, to go to Nirvana

Buddhism was introduced into Vietnam through two ways: from China and directly from India Buddhism was accepted by Vietnamese people after having some changes and popularized by blending with the traditional beliefs

Since then, Buddhist pagoda and temple appeared in different times and different places until every village had its own temple That is the reason why nowadays there are many pagodas in Vietnam By searching these pagodas, we can not see all the characteristic features of Buddhism, religions and beliefs in Vietnam But this will help us understand an important aspect

of the cultural and ideological history of Vietnam

In Thien Nien pagoda, besides Buddha, people also worship Mother Saint, Gods and some Monks Twice per month on the 1st and 15th of lunar month, people go to pagoda and temple They bring offerings such as fruits, joss-stick… to pagoda and put them on altars They pray Buddha for their family, their health, good luck come and avoid bad things

In some occasions, they organize festivals, like Vu Lan festival In this festival, they pray for dead soul to be free from sufferings Besides Vu Lan festival, Thien Nien pagoda also organize Phat Dan festival (Great Buddha’s birthday) on the 8th of the 4th lunar month In this festival, they use

5 scent water (prepare from different flowers and plants) to pour the Buddha’s body

Everyday, as well as in some festivals, all monks in Thien Nien pagoda say prayers to hope that they will understand Buddha’s theory and be relaxed Moreover, they pray to Buddha to bring good health and luck for everyone

IV ARCHITECTURE, STATUES AND ALTARS

1 Architecture

Thien Nien pagoda is arranged in the form of the letter “I” surrounded

by rectangular structure of brick walls This kind of shape is called “Noi cong ngoai quoc” which is very popular in the North of Vietnam

As many Vietnamese pagodas, this pagoda includes 3 parts: three door gate, courtyard, main hall The three door gate plays an important part

in each pagoda in Vietnam This gate is divided into 3 ways of entrance Number 3 is odd number In Vietnamese culture it symbolizes for breed and happiness At the roof of three door gate, there are 4 dragons at 4 sides According to Vietnamese culture, dragon is one of sacred animals It symbols for power of the King and property

Pagoda is covered with tiles, usually in two layers The tiles are shaped like the blade of a big knife Together, all those tiles look like a lotus The symbol of the lotus is widely used in pagoda because of its strong

character Most of the rafters of a pagoda are carved with pictures of dragons and phoenixes or sometimes flowers

The main color used in pagoda is brown because it helps create a quiet and peaceful atmosphere

The inside pagoda is comprised of three main rooms:

- The 1st room of the pagoda is called Bai Duong (place for bow

-towing admiration) In Bai Duong, there are two statues of guardian spirit

(Hộ pháp) or general officials to protect pagoda and Buddha The two statues are very big and made of terracotta The one with the white face is called Ong Thien (the saint who encourages people to do good and kind things) The other with the red face and big knife in his hand is called Ong

Ac (the saint who punishes those who do bad and cruel things) A part from that, there are statues of God and Saint-monk

- The next room is small room called Ong Muong (Tube room) From

Ong Muong there is a system of statues Statues of Buddha are placed on pedestals with the shape of lotus blossoms The pedestals are carved with pictures of dragons, waves and flowers that reflect a stable and prosperous society This is lead to Thuong Dien (higher temple)

-The last room of the pagoda is Hau Duong (Back room) The room is

used to worship goddesses: Mau Thuong Ngan (Mother goddess of mountain), Mau Thoai (Mother goddess of water), Mau Thien (Mother goddess of heaven)

In order to make readers understand more about Thien Nien pagoda,

we use diagrams and picture to explain

5

10

4

3

6

1 10

2

Diagram of Thien Nien pagoda

Note

1 The main gate leading to pagoda

2 Three door entrance

3 Courtyard

4 5 6 Main Hall

4 Place for bow-towing administration

5 Tube house

6 Back room

7 The house where monks live

8 Area of relic stupas of the patriarchs

9 Garden

10 Brick wall

2 Statues and altars

In the main hall: in this part we would like to describe how people put statues and altars in the main hall

1 0 0

1 1

1 2

1 3

1 5

1 4

1 6

1

18

18

18

18

18

17

17

17

17

17

Status system in Thien Nien pagoda

Note

1, 2, 3: The trinity of Buddhas (Phat Tam The)

4 Avalokitesvara holding her baby (Quan Am Tong Tu)

5 Buddha of the past (Phat Adida)

6 Goddesses of Mercy (Quan Am Bo Tat)

7 Buddha of the present (Tuong The Ton Thich Cao or Thich Ca Mau Ni)

8 Thap Diep

9 Ananda

10 King of Heaven (Ngoc Hoang)

11 Nam Tao

12 Bac Dau

13 Phat Nhap Niet Ban

14 New-born Buddha (Thich Ca So Sinh)

15 Pho Hien Bo Tat

16 Van Thu Bo Tat

17, 18 Ten King of Heaven (Thap vi Diem Vuong)

2

0

2 0

19 Guardians (Ho Phap)

20 God

21 Saint- monk

Altars of goddesses:

1

White statue

2 Red statue

3 Green statue

1 Mother Goddesses of Water (Mau Thoai)

2 Mother Goddesses of Heaven (Mau Thien)

3 Mother Goddesses of Mountains (Mau Thuong Ngan)

Besides that, in Thien Nien pagoda there are many other statues, all of them are made of wood

As Mr Thich Nguyen Duc (resided monk) said there are many statues

in the main hall as well as in Thien Nien pagoda So we would like to introduce to you some main, famous and oldest statues

a) Buddha of the present (Phat Thich Ca Mau Ni)

This was a real person His name is Siddharrtha He was a crow prince, the son of King Tinh Phan He was born around the year 563 BC in the Lumbini garden of capital Kapilavastu (now located in southern Nepal at the foot of Hymalayas) Sakyamuni was name given to him by his disciples

It means “a quiet sage of Sakia race” He chose to leave his family, rich life and lead a simple life at the age of 29 although he got married and a son At the age of 35, after meditating at the foot of Bodhi tree free for 49 days, he received enlightenment as to the path of deliverance He died at age of 80 His body was fired and after that is was divided in many parts to share for many countries These countries built pagoda and towers to worship Buddha

b) The new-born Buddha (Thich Ca So sinh)

This is also a very famous statue According to Mr Thich Nguyen Duc, this is the oldest statue in Thien Nien pagoda It was curved in 15 centuries Look at this statue we can see that is a small boy, wear skirt He stands on a lotus flower People said that after he was born, he steped 7 steps, he left hand point land, his right hand point sky and said: “On the heaven, in the earth, only me should be respected” (Thien thuong dia ha duy nga doc ton) And at that time there were 9 dragons from heaven poured water on his body

c) The trinity of Buddha (Phat Tam The)

These statues are placed at the highest position of the main hall They are statues of the past (on the right side), present (in the middle) and future Buddha (on the left side)

They are very smooth and relaxed Especially, the statue of the present does meditation

d) Parinirvana (Phat Nhap Niet Ban)

You can see this statue at the lowest position of the main hall: Buddha

is laying, it means that: Buddha is staying at Nirvana- a very perfect place for people and all people who follow Buddhism want to reach In some pagoda, this statue is very big, but in Thien Nien pagoda it is small

e) Goddesses of Mercy (Quan The Am Bo Tat)

She is the greatest and most powerful Buddha in Vietnam Some statues describe her with two hands but others describe her with thousand of hands and eyes It means that she can see and know everything happening in the world and help in time Legend has it that: the Goddesses of Mercy was born into a poor family and upon reaching adulthood, dutifully obeyed her parents and married a student called Thien Si One day, she made a very small mistake and she was forced to leave the house Feeling very disappointed and sad, she sought refuge in a pagoda and stated a religious life where she got the name Kinh Tam

f) Kings of Hell (Thap Dien Diem Vuong)

There are ten statues of King of hell Each side has 5 statues They are Kings who keep 10 doors in the hell Their duty is to command all deal souls, so the can know who is bad person or good one Because in Buddhism, people believe in a life after they die, so if they are good person they will get a good life in other world And of course if they are bad person they will get a very terrible life in other world, even they can be animal These statues mean that: they advise people should do the good things and avoid doing bad things

g) Mother Goddess of Water (Mau Thoai)

She wears white shirt Because Vietnam is an agriculture country, so water is very necessary, it is the most important element Without using

water, farmers can not do their work, so they can not exist That is the reason why people want to worship Mother Goddess of Water

h) Mother Goddess of Heaven (Mau Thien)

She wears red shirt In the past, Vietnamese people used to worship the fire and sun Because the fire and sun help them cook their food, avoided cold weather, she brought the light to the world That is the reason why they worship her Her statue is placed in the middle of the altar

i)Mother Goddess of Mountain (Mau Thuong Ngan)

She wears green shirt People worship her because they want to show their respect to the tree In the past people were depended on nature They earned for their live by picking fruits or killing animals in the mountains They believed in the heaven with the hell and the earth The sacred tree of Buddhism is Bodhi-tree

V HEROES, LEGENDS AND FESTIVALS

According to resided monk (Mr Thich Nguyen Duc), this pagoda was built to dedicate to two princesses who had great merit, having helped King

Ly kill the fox with 9 tails