CAM UNG PAGODA

Cam Ung pagoda, named “Mung” pagoda in Ancient Vietnamese script, is located at no. 3, Alley 538, Lang street, Lang Ha ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi. In the beginning of 19th Century, the pagoda area lay in Yen Lang commune, Ha sub-district (a group of several communes), Vinh Thuan district, Hoai Duc sub-province (a group of several districts), Hanoi province.

According to folk legend, the pagoda was built in 11th Century during the Reign of King Ly Thanh Tong (1023 – 1072), in the same time with Ung Thien Temple in Lang Ha. Later on, a princess of the Ly Dynasty lived as a nun in here until her death.

In the Nguyen Dynasty, the pagoda was restored for a number of time during the Reigns of Thanh Thai and Bao Dai Emperors. The current architecture and scale resulted from the repairs in 2001, 2003 and 2012.

Belonging to the heritage system of the old Lang area, besides the Buddha, the pagoda also is the place for worshiping Buddhist monk Tu Dao Hanh and his mother – Mrs. Tang Thi Loan. The pagoda is located in an area of 3600m2, with the Three Jewels, Patriarch House and Mother Goddess House. In the past, the pagoda’s scale was quite humble with only a 3-compartment Front Hall and 1-compartment Main Hall. Later on, to satisfy the religion and belief activities of a large number of Buddhists, the pagoda’s works were embellished and enlarged in both the quantity and scale.

The Pagoda’s entrance includes two gates which are a several dozen meters far from each other. Both the gates are built in arch form. Each gate has two roofs with one overlaying the other; each roof has 4 sides in curved form like a sabre. On two sides of the gates, there are 4 ornamented pillars with parallel sentences in Chinese characters. The two entrance gates are connected to each other with boundary wall, which separate the pagoda from the residential area.

The pagoda’s yard is quite large, with a number of green trees and stone benches for visitors to take a rest before entering to kowtow to the Buddha.

The Three Jewels House has two storeys, two roofs with one overlaying the other and 8 roof sides altogether. The first storey is for welcoming the visitors, and the second is for worshiping the Buddha. The frame of the house is made of pseud-wood concrete. The beam-column system is linked together in form of “Gong hanging frame in upper and sculptured wooden boards in lower”; the floor is covered with enameled tiles. The upper area of the compartments have Horizontal lacquered boards, Door paintings in fresco, and Parallel sentences, creating the grandeur greatness for the Buddha shrine. In the lower, there are arranged the statue of gods and Buddha, including those of Encouragement of the Good – Punishment of the Evil gods, Anathapindika and Ānanda, Amitābha, Siddhārtha holding flower, Nine Dragons, Nam Tao – Bac Dau (two secretary of the Jade Emperor, recording birth and death of the world), etc.

The Patriarch and Mother Goddess Houses are designed in the same way with the Three Jewels House, with 2 storeys and roofs covered with traditional tiles, floor covered with enameled tiles. The beam-column system is linked together in form of “Overlaid beams and Gong hanging frame in upper and sculptured wooden boards in lower”. The front doors of the compartment are made in style of “Railing in upper, plate in lower”. The upper storey is for worshiping the Patriarch and the Mother Goddess; the lower storey is for living activities of the pagoda personnel and visitors.

The Pagoda still preserves many valuable vestiges, including: 11 pairs of parallel sentences, 13 horizontal lacquered boards, 12 sets of door paintings in fresco, 29 statues, Patriarch statues, Mother Goddess statues, 7 wooden Incense-tables in artistic styles of 19th-20th Century.

Through its existence, Cam Ung Pagoda is the place to hold religion and belief activities of the local people. The Pagoda is where people are educated about mercy and humanity, and where they unbosom their all happiness and sadness in the life, with a hope for a peaceful and happy life.