MY QUANG PAGODA

The pagoda has the pen name of "My Quang Tu", in addition, it is also known by the local people as Am Pagoda (“am” means small temples and because there are many small temples in the Pagoda). The pagoda is located at Cho Kham Thien alley, Trung Phung ward, Dong Da district, Hanoi.

Based on the stele named “Bi kí lưu truyền” (Inscription) with the dating from the 28th Canh Hung year (1767) and the bronze bell cast in the 2nd Tu Duc year (1849) together with the system of ancient objects, My Quang pagoda was built since 18th century. In the Nguyen Dynasty, the pagoda was restored and embellished in the 2nd Khai Dinh year (1917) and the 11th Bao Dai year (1935). In recent years, the pagoda has experienced many innovation and upgrading times to have spacious architecture as it is today.

Also according to steles, in the past, the pagoda was large and superficial in scale, it was a beautiful pagoda of the capital city. The local people say that the pagoda was formerly surrounded by a large lake and a large three-door gate in front. However, during the US Army's B52 bombing at Kham Thien in late 1972, the ancient pagoda was destroyed. Later due to the process of urbanization, the area of My Quang pagoda was greatly reduced. Currently, the pagoda is located on an area of ​​about 400m2, including items: Three-Door Gate, Front Hall, Main Hall, Patriarch house, Mother Goddess House, Soul House, Avalokiteshvara Pavilion and auxiliary works.

The Three-Door Gate of the pagoda was built in the style of rolling arch with two floors and four curved roofs, both sides are decorated with parallel sentences with Chinese characters. The two sides of the gate have two pillars which are curved with a pair of young lions on the top facing together with the meaning of controlling the souls of the pilgrims before entering the Buddha ceremony.

The pagoda yard is treated with red bricks and there are many small architectural items, such as: Pavilion of the Maiden, Pavilion of the Young Lord, and the Sơn Trang Cave, etc.

The Front Hall consists of 5 compartments, built with gable wall and roofed with traditional tiles. The middle of the roof is decorated with the jar of sweet dew, two roof ends are decorated with two stylized dragon heads. The front is created to form 5 sets which are treated with green stone and carved with patterns and the floor is treated with red bricks. The three middle compartments have the system of wooden doors in the form of “bars on top and wooden flank at bottom”. Two side compartments have the 壽-shaped windows. The load-bearing frame consists of 6 sets of wooden beams which are connected each other in the style of "Overlaid beams and Gong hanging frame in upper, sculptured wooden boards, traverse beams and diagonal beams in lower" standing on the ground with four rows of ironwood columns. The Front Hall has a quite wide porch with the columns made of green stones and carved with the high density of such decoration patterns as leaves, clouds, seal patterns, stylized flower etc. All compartments hang horizontal lacquered boards, doors painting in fresco, parallel sentences which are exquisitely carved, red-lacquered and trimmed with gold to create the classic look for the Buddha pagoda.

The Main Hall is a vertical house perpendicular to the Front Hall that creates the “丁” shaped architecture. The sets of roof supporting beams are connected in the style of “Wooden supporting boards in upper, sculptured wooden boards in lower” and carved with the decoration patterns of leaves, flowers and seals. The Main Hall displays many layers of Buddha statues: At the top is the set of Three Buddhas statues, followed by the set of Amitabha Trinity, the statue of Avalokiteshvara Cundi, the Nine Dragons, and the statues of Manjushri and Samantabhadra, among others.

In front of the Three-Jewel House, there is Avalokiteshvara Pavilion with 2 floors and 8 curved roofs. Four roofs are supported by 16 round wooden columns and 3 sides are installed with wooden railings, the front is created into steps to go up and down, the inside places the statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva made of white stone with two statues of attendant standing on two sides.

The Patriarch house consists of 3 compartments built with gable walls and roofed with traditional tiles. The wooden beams are in the form of “Gong hanging frame in upper and sculptured wooden boards in lower”. The middle compartment worships Bodhidharma, two side compartments worships the ancestral head monks of the pagoda and a Main altar statue.

The Mother Goddess House consists of 1 compartment and is connected to the Patriarch house. This place worships Three Holy Mother Goddesses, Five Honored Commanders, Two Princes.

In the campus of ​​My Quang pagoda, there is also Son Trang cave with quite special form. For other pagodas with small architectural space, Son Trang cave is usually located in The Mother Goddess House. At My Quang Pagoda, Son Trang cave is designed in a separate area with an outside path. The whole cave is covered with an imitation mountain facing the main pagoda. Outside worships Five Tigers and when entering the inside, the cave is designed in each chamber with high and low cliffs, the cave ceiling creates very interesting stalactites. The center of the cave places the statue of Lady of the Mountains, surrounded by 12 girls with bamboo flutes on one hands and musical instrument in other hands who are having fun in the fairyland. This is a beautiful architecture, impressing visitors when visiting the pagoda for worshiping the Buddha.

My Quang pagoda still preserves many ancient and rare objects with historical, cultural and artistic values, including 19 round statues dating from the Nguyen Dynasty, 2 bronze bells (Nguyen Dynasty), 8 stone steles. (including 01 stele in the Le Dynasty, 7 Steles in the Nguyen Dynasty) and many horizontal lacquered boards, curved letter boards, doors painting in fresco, parallel sentences, incense-tables and worshipping objects that reflect the process of establishment and development of the relic. This is the "soul" of the relic that makes the pagoda sacred and ancient.

Experiencing many ups and downs of history, My Quang pagoda has always been present as a spiritual support for every people to direct the people to the good things in life.

The site was designated as a National Historic Monument in 1990.