LIEN HOA PAGODA

Lien Hoa Pagoda is located at 71 Chua Lien Hoa Lane, Kham Thien Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi City. Under the Nguyen Dynasty, this was the land of Van Chuong, Tien Nghiem, Tho Xuong, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi province.

There are no documents found that record the date of construction of the relic. However, according to the stele installed here, the pagoda was restored in the 4th Thieu Tri year (1844), the 25th Tu Duc year (1872), and 10th Thanh Thai year (1898). The current architectural scale is the result of the recent restoration of the items: Three-door gate, Three-Jewel house, Patriarch house, Mother Goddess House and auxiliary works which are arranged in the campus of the pagoda with walls to separate from adjacent households.

The Three-Door Gate of the pagoda consists of 3 gates built in the form of a stack of matchboxes with 2 floors and 4 traditional tiled roofs. Below is constructed in the form of arch. On the main gate, there is a curved letter board with 3 Chinese characters "Liên Hoa tự" (Lien Hoa Temple). Two side columns are installed with the parallel sentences in Chinese language. Below, the three gates open wooden doors, the middle door is wider and taller than the two side doors. The three-door gate of the pagoda is the boundary between the pagoda and the outside world.

Inside, in front of the Three-Jewel house, there is a rockery with the bonsai pots around to create a sense of closeness to nature. Due to the limited area of ​​use, the buildings of Lien Hoa Pagoda are designed with two functional floors. This design is suitable for relics in urban areas, ensuring harmony with the surrounding landscape and at the same time making the most of the used area for the relic. The first floor 1 is used as the guest receiving area where is used for important occasions and rituals of the pagoda; the second floor is the place to worship Buddha, the Ancestors and Mother Goddess. The pagoda items are designed to fit together, the front has a corridor to the adjacent rows, which is convenient for visitors whenever they come to the Pagoda to worship the Buddha and pray for peace.

The Front Hall consists of 3 compartments and 2 lean-tos which is constructed in the form of gable walls and traditional tiled roof, the wooden frame includes 4 sets for beams supporting the roof structure in the style of "Upper stacked brackets and lower crossbeams", the porch is protruded to connect with the adjacent architectural works.

The Main Hall consists of 3 longitudinal rooms at the back to form the "丁" shape. The roof support frame has the same structure as the Front Hall. The decoration on the architecture of Lien Hoa pagoda mainly focuses on the sets of beams, edges, lines, porch lines, stone pillars which are decorated with the patterns of leaves, cloud, rosette, flower string, the four seasons etc. with the artistic style of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The Patriarch house and the Mother Goddess House of the pagoda consist of two rows of houses with 3 rooms per house. The houses are built with gable walls and traditional tiled roof. The front opens the system of woodworking-antique doors in the form of “bars on top and wooden flank at bottom”. The sets of beams supporting the roof follow two forms: "Upper stacked beams and lower seating beams" and "Upper wooden panels and lower crossbeams". All rooms are hung with horizontal lacquered boards, doors painting in fresco, parallel sentences which are exquisitely carved, splendidly painted with traditional themes such as dragons looking at the sun, dragon nest, pheasant, blooming chrysanthemum, flower string, seal patterns to create the spirituality and magnificent for the pagoda.

In addition, in front of the Three-Jewel house, there is a stone statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva standing with one hand holding a jug of sweet dew, one hand in the "Dharma teaching" posture. The statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is the embodiment of salvation for the living beings. With the unpredictable transformation in the human world, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is considered to be the embodiment of salvation to help the living beings overcome all suffering to reach enlightenment.

Lien Hoa Pagoda still preserves nearly 30 round statues with high artistic and aesthetic value such as: The three statues of the Three Buddhas, the Amitabha Buddha, the Shakyamuni Buddha with the Lotus, the statue of Avalokiteshvara Cundi, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Nine Dragons, the Snow Mountain, and the statue of Maitreya Buddha. These are beautiful statues with small sizes characterized by sculptural style of the nineteenth century with delicate, balanced lines, reaching the aesthetic of contemporary sculpturing art. In addition to the round statue system, the pagoda also keeps 02 bronze bells casted in the 4th Thieu Tri year (1844) and the 25th Tu Duc year (1872), 02 stone steles dating to the Nguyen Dynasty with many horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, curved letter board, door painting in fresco, incense-table and other objects with content praising Buddhism, praising the beauty of the pagoda as well as the philosophy of Buddhism to teach people to do good things, avoid evil things etc. to direct the people to the good things in life.

Experiencing many ups and downs of national history, Lien Hoa pagoda has always been the center of spiritual activities of the local community, creating cohesion, solidarity and making contribution to preserving the fine traditions and customs to enrich the treasure of local traditional heritage. The pagoda is a symbol of compassion and charity and is the place for every people and visitors to worship the Buddha, pray for peace and have relaxation after hard working days.

Lien Hoa Pagoda was classified as a city level relic in 2011.