Vinh Nghiem pagoda, also known as Duc La pagoda, is located in Tri Yen commune’s Quoc Khanh village of Bac Giang province’s Yen Dung district.
The pagoda originally was built in the 11th century with the name of Chuc Thanh temple, which is one of eight pagodas under the reign of King Lý Thái Tổ (1010 – 1028).
It was completed in 1016, with Zen Master Vạn Hạnh as its the first abbot and succeeded by Buddhist monks known as Đạo An, Minh Tâm, Bảo Tánh and Huệ Quang. King Trần Nhân Tông renamed the pagoda as Vinh Nghiem in the 13th century.
Vinh Nghiem pagoda covered the a construction area of one hectare, with a three-entrance gate, four construction blocks of the divine, the main sanctum and two ancestral houses devoted to the first two patriarchs, a steeple auxiliary facilities.
In addition to the unique values of architecture, the pagoda has also been considered as the Buddhist cultural museum for over 100 exquisitely carved wooden and terracotta statues, eight steles recorded the historical development of Vinh Nghiem Buddhist center, a wooden bell engraved with two Sanskrit sentences, and especially woodblocks of Buddhist scriptures dated 700 years.
A woodblock kept at Vinh Nghiem pagoda
The woodblocks in Vinh Nghiem pagoda have saved the content of nine Buddhist scriptures and precepts, consist of 3,050 double-sided sculptures written in Nom and Chinese characters introducing the historical culture of Vietnamese Buddhism, Truc Lam Zen Buddhism as well as the life and career of King-Monk Trần Nhân Tông and other national celebrities.
These woodblocks have been recognized as documentary heritage items in the Asia-Pacific Region’s Memory of the World Program by UNESCO in 2012.
Vinh Nghiem pagoda was also known as the first Buddhist training institute in Vietnam. The pagoda was the place where three first patriarchs of the Truc Lam Zen Sect, namely Trần Nhân Tông (1258-1308), Pháp Loa (1284-1330) and Huyền Quang (1254-1334), resided as the pagoda abbots, delivered teachings and founded the Zen sect of Vietnam Buddhism.
At Vinh Nghiem pagoda Festival
The festival of the pagoda is annually held in the 14th of the second lunar month, and was recognized as the national intangible cultural heritage in 2013.
For these great value, Vinh Nghiem pagoda was classified as the national cultural and historical relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 1964, and recognized as the special national relic site by the Prime Minister in 2015.
