Bao An Pagoda, the full name in ancient documents is Bao An Thien Tu or Tu Gia Bao An, the popular name is Cam Pagoda, formerly belonging to Thap Mieu commune, Bach Tru canton, Yen Lang district, Phuc Yen province, Now belongs to Trung Nhi ward, Phuc Yen city, Vinh Phuc province.
The pagoda was built in the 12th century during the reign of King Ly Cao Tong (1176-1210). This is one of the few pagodas dating back to the Ly Dynasty until today. The pagoda is built on a high hill, with luxuriant trees, windy on all four sides, beautiful scenery, quiet, full of solitude, a place of meditation. In the past, this area was called Tieu Dao Mountain, and is commonly called Cam Forest, perhaps that's why the pagoda is famous as Cam Pagoda.
According to inscriptions and genealogies, the pagoda has existed for a long time. In the 12th century, the crown prince, son of King Ly Cao Tong, donated more than a hundred acres of fields, two thousand francs of money to repair the pagoda, and 700 francs of merit for a banquet. worship easily. Assign martial general Nguyen to directly direct and mobilize donations to repair the pagoda. As a result, the pagoda was restored with "seven newly built closely spaced rooms, columns painted with bright flowers, bright jade colors, a high and precious palace, bright sunlight and moonlight, a splendid Buddha statue, and a poised lotus throne." , the big bell towers over the phoenix, the noble king holds the dragon, the splendor and majesty are clear...". The military general of the Nguyen family also had the merit of a thousand francs to buy more than a hundred acres of fields to donate to the pagoda for farming.
In the 14th century under the reign of King Tran Anh Tong, Bao An Pagoda was given a lot of money to repair and embellish by Princess Hung Nuong. To remember his merits, like many other pagodas in the area, people built a shrine to Princess Hung Nuong in the pagoda.
Having gone through the ups and downs of thousands of years of history, Bao An Pagoda is still at the old campus but has had many changes. Ancient architectural buildings such as the front hall, incense burner, upper palace, ancestral house, Hung Nuong princess shrine and mother shrine were demolished due to deterioration. Currently, the pagoda has been renovated and rebuilt on a large scale, with reinforced concrete architecture and tiled roof.
The pagoda also preserves valuable relics and antiques such as: Dharma statues, altars, bronze bells, and stone stele. Among them, the most typical is the stone stele "Bao An Zen Tu Bi Bi Ky" (inscription of Bao An Pagoda's stele). Up to now, according to review, survey and statistical data, this is the only Ly Dynasty stele remaining in the province. The stele was engraved in December of the year Tri Binh Long Ung (1209) and re-engraved later, probably at the end of the 18th century, placed at Bao An pagoda. The stele was mentioned and published by many researchers in Ly Tran Poetry (Social Sciences Publishing House, H.1977) and Ly Dynasty Epitaph (VNU Publishing House, H.2010). This is the oldest stele in Vinh Phuc and one of the 18 Ly Dynasty stelae remaining in our country today. The stele is 1.4m high, 0.85m wide, 0.14m thick, placed on the back of a smooth-shelled stone turtle, its head protruding, its four-clawed feet spread out in all four directions. The stele is engraved on both sides with 50 lines including 1498 Chinese - Nom characters, sharp handwriting in the style of Ly Dynasty script, very beautiful. The content of the memoir was composed by Wei Tu Hien in a parallel, parallel, and concise writing style. At the end of the memoir is an essay written in the style of Buddhist verse. The content of the stele describes the splendid and splendid scene of Bao An Pagoda in the 12th century, recording the merits of repairing the pagoda of Prince Sam, son of King Ly Cao Tong, military generals of the Nguyen family, along with Buddhists and people there. This. According to Nguyen Huu Mui (Research on Vinh Phuc Inscriptions, 2013), although the epitaph is still full of exaggeration, the image of a Ly Dynasty pagoda is clearly shown: the pagoda was restored by just one person. , the scale of the pagoda is large, inside the pagoda there are Buddha statues and lotus flowers, outside the pagoda there are bells and openings; The pagoda owns a lot of land and has a Thich Giao Zen Association (a type of Buddhist association, offering temple protection) to manage the meditation area.
Based on this stele, it can be seen that the construction and restoration of pagodas took place on Vinh Phuc land since the Ly dynasty. The construction and restoration of pagodas was encouraged, not prohibited, by the royal court and assigned to the mandarins and aristocracy to preside and organize. The construction and restoration of pagodas is also considered an important event in the spiritual life of the people, attracting the whole region and even the whole country to join in the merit. This proves that during the peak development of Buddhism during the Ly Dynasty, Vinh Phuc area was also a popular center of this religion. The special thing is that among the nearly 1,500 words on the stele, there are mixed Nom words, these Nom words are used to write people's names and land names. It is said that this is one of the oldest evidences of Nom script found in Vietnam. Before this stele, traces of a few Nom characters were only found in two places: on the bell of Van Ban pagoda, Hai Phong (year 1076), and in an inscription at the pagoda of Huong Non commune, Tam Nong district, Phu Tho province. (year 1173).
Bao An Pagoda was ranked as a provincial historical-cultural relic in 1995. In the period 2021 - 2025, Vinh Phuc province plans to build a scientific dossier to request recognition of the National Treasure for the pagoda steles. Bao An and upgrading the national monument ranking for Bao An Pagoda relics, these are activities to further strengthen the management, conservation and promotion of heritage values.
Source: Bao An Pagoda Vinh Phuc
Phu Tho
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Xếp hạng : Provincial level relics
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