Dầu Pagoda

Dầu Pagoda is an ancient pagoda, located in Chùa Hamlet, Khánh Hòa, Đông Hoa Lư Ward, Ninh Bình Province. The pagoda was built during the reign of King Lý Thái Tông but bears strong imprints of the architectural style of pagodas from the Trần dynasty. The pagoda faces south, situated on a plot of land about 5,000 square metres in size, and has been recognised by the state as a national-level historical and cultural relic.

During the Lý dynasty, Buddhism flourished. Hoa Lư Citadel (Ninh Bình) was the maternal homeland of King Lý Thái Tông, where Queen Mother Lê Thị Phất Ngân, the King's mother, had many temples restored and renovated, including Duyên Ninh Pagoda, Am Tiên Pagoda, and Dầu Pagoda.

The pagoda's formal name is 靈衙寺 / 灵衙寺 / Linh Nha tự. The couplet on the Tam Quan (three-entrance gate) reveals the role of Dầu Pagoda during the two dynasties of Lý and Trần:

李朝而起陳朝而興萬古名藍

天柱已維地軸已立天年勝跡

Transliteration:

Lý triều nhi khởi, Trần triều nhi hưng, vạn cổ danh lam;

Thiên trụ dĩ duy, địa trục dĩ lập, thiên niên thắng tích.

Provisional translation:

Founded in the Lý dynasty, flourishing in the Trần dynasty, a famous site for all ages;

The pillar of heaven is firm, the axis of earth is steady, a thousand years of sacred relics.

During the Trần dynasty, Buddhism developed strongly. The king became a monk. King Trần Thái Tông practised at Vũ Lâm Palace (Văn Lâm Hamlet, Tây Hoa Lư Ward, Ninh Bình Province). Afterwards, King Trần Thánh Tông, as a sovereign, also became a monk and took the title of Hòa thượng (Great Monk). The queens also became nuns, and the princes became monks. Therefore, while at Vũ Lâm Palace, the Trần king continued to build and expand Dầu Pagoda so that Prince Ngự Câu Vương and Princess Huyền Tư could practise there, which is why the prince and princess are worshipped at the pagoda.

From the southwest direction, there are three main gates; after passing through the brick courtyard, one reaches the tall, spacious seven-compartment front hall, with beams and trusses. The crossbeams are carved with dragons, kylins, tortoises, and phoenixes (the four sacred animals). Only the central compartment is wide and fitted with doors, while the four side compartments are walled, and the two end compartments at either gable have small doors. In the front hall are placed two large statues of Dharma Protectors sitting on crocodiles (each over three metres tall), which look very imposing, as well as the statue of Đức Ông (on the right) and Đức Thánh Hiền (on the left). Connected to the front hall is the central hall.

The central hall is a longitudinal building; the first compartment is left empty, with three stone steles mounted on the right wall and two on the left wall, recording the merits of those who contributed to the construction of the pagoda. The two inner compartments each have two red-lacquered, gold-gilded archways and built altars descending from high to low, where Buddha statues are placed.

Beyond the central hall is the three-compartment rear sanctuary, with the central compartment being wide and the two side compartments narrower. The unique feature of the rear sanctuary is that the central compartment has a rectangular lotus pedestal from the Trần dynasty, over three metres long, 1.5 metres wide, and one metre high. This is a unique stone pedestal, with the border carved with large lotus petals in a raised and recessed style; on three sides are fretwork patterns and soft motifs. On the stone pedestal are placed three statues of the Buddhas of the Three Times (Tam Thế). The right gable wall houses a statue of the Trần dynasty Queen Mother, and the left gable wall houses a statue of the Trần dynasty King Father.

Every three years, Dầu Pagoda holds a palanquin procession festival on the 29th and 30th days of the second lunar month and the 1st day of the third lunar month.

Annually, at the Thái Vi Temple festival (part of the Tam Cốc - Bích Động tourist area), which takes place from the 14th to the 16th day of the third lunar month to commemorate the contributions of the Trần kings who established Vũ Lâm Palace as a rear base during the resistance against the Mongol invasions, the people of Khánh Hòa also carry their palanquin there to participate in the festival.

The Thái Vi Temple festival is the communal festival of the entire former Vũ Lâm district. This is because these villages all worship the Trần kings and generals. From the afternoon of the 14th day of the third lunar month, the villagers of Văn Lâm open the temple, carry the sacred incense burner to Các Communal House (đình Các, a traditional Vietnamese communal house), which is said to be the place where officials used to report before entering Vũ Lâm Palace, and offer sacrifices to the Trần kings there. On the morning of the 15th day, all the villages of the former Vũ Lâm district carry their village's sacred palanquins to Các Communal House for the ritual. First, Khê Đầu village (upper and lower), the eldest village, carries the sacred palanquin through the villages of Xuân Áng, Khả Lương, Hành Cung, Hạ Trạo, Tuân Cáo; at each village, that village's palanquin joins the procession. Dầu Pagoda (Khánh Hòa, Yên Khánh), which worships Prince Ngự Câu Vương and Princess Huyền Trân of the Trần dynasty, also joins the procession here.

Dầu Pagoda – the place preserving national treasures (Lã Đăng Bật) Archived on 22 March 2014 at Wayback Machine

Official letter regarding the agreement on the project to conserve and restore the Dầu Pagoda historical and cultural relic site, Ninh Bình Province Archived on 2 April 2015 at Wayback Machine