Ancient Ngoc Lo Pagoda (Thanh Ha)

Exquisite architecture

Many people believe that Ngoc Lo Pagoda is famous for its sacredness, so it is also called Linh My Pagoda. The pagoda is located in the west of the village, surrounded by rice fields, in the distance is the winding Vang River, making the space and scenery even more peaceful and quiet.

It is not clear when Ngoc Lo Pagoda was built, but many research documents say that this pagoda was once the largest pagoda in Nam Sach district during the post-Le period. Going back in history, during the post-Le period, Ngoc Lo village was called Ngoc Than, belonging to Cam Lo commune, Hoang Xa canton, Thanh Ha district, Nam Sach district. Before 1951, Ngoc Lo belonged to Lien Hoa commune, then changed its name to Tan Viet commune. Ngoc Lo people mainly farmed, so they always believed in Buddha to pray for favorable weather and wind. For this reason, over time, Ngoc Lo Pagoda still retains its ancient spirit.

Ngoc Lo Pagoda has a fairly large campus with a lush orchard. In addition to coming to the pagoda to worship Buddha, local people and visitors also come here to admire the massive and relatively uniform architecture, imbued with folk culture of Ngoc Lo Pagoda. The pagoda is designed in the shape of the letter "cong", consisting of 3 structures: the worshiping hall, the upper hall and the monk's hall.

The worship hall has 5 compartments made of solid ironwood. The unique point here is the creativity in design that helps expand the worship space. The entire beam and rafters are elaborately carved, arranged symmetrically. The sophisticated sculpture art is clearly shown through the carving of dragons, phoenixes, and water waves. The most prominent is the beam of the middle compartment, carved with dragons and fish, and below carved with dragons and horses and turtles hiding in lotus leaves. Above is a phoenix spreading its wings, the ends are carved with dragons. The upper hall and the monk's house of Ngoc Lo Pagoda are designed more simply with the highlight being the roof covered with traditional conical tiles.

Ngoc Lo Pagoda worships Mahayana Buddhism. The pagoda has undergone many renovations but still retains its ancient architecture. Local people contributed greatly to the pagoda's renovation.

Ngoc Lo Pagoda is not only an ancient pagoda with a peaceful and beautiful landscape, where people often come to pray for good luck, but it is also a revolutionary and resistance base in the locality. During the August Revolution in 1945, Ngoc Lo Pagoda was the place to hold rallies and demonstrations against French colonialism and Japanese fascism.

During the resistance war against the French, the temple garden was where guerrillas dug tunnels to fight against the French army. Therefore, Ngoc Lo Pagoda has many cultural, architectural, historical and spiritual values.

Ngoc Lo people hold a death anniversary on the 17th day of the 7th lunar month every year to commemorate Venerable Nguyen Van Ton, who contributed to the establishment, preservation and maintenance of the propagation of Buddhism at Ngoc Lo Pagoda.

Preserve many valuable antiques

Ngoc Lo Pagoda is one of the few pagodas in Hai Duong that preserves many ancient Buddha statues. Currently, the pagoda has 25 statues carved from jackfruit wood dating back to the 19th century. Many cultural and religious researchers assess that the ancient statues at Ngoc Lo Pagoda have a strong Eastern identity because they are carved delicately, realistically, and are both soft and sturdy. These precious statues need to be preserved and conserved for a long time.

The Buddha statues are arranged on a stepped pedestal in the upper hall. The top step has the three statues of Tam The sitting on a lotus throne, the second step in the middle is the statue of Amitabha, next to Tien Dong and Ngoc Nu. The third step in the middle is the statue of Ngoc Hoang, Nam Tao and Bac Dau sitting on both sides. The fourth step, sitting between the two Bodhisattvas Quan Am, is the statue of Thich Ca Niem Hoa sitting on a lotus throne. The fifth step has the statue of Maitreya, on both sides are Quan Am Toa Son. The sixth step has the statue of the infant Thich Ca standing on a lotus throne. In addition to the upper hall, Buddha statues are also arranged in the monks' quarters and the worship hall.

In addition to the system of Buddha statues, Ngoc Lo Pagoda also preserves 11 stone steles from the Le and Nguyen dynasties. The stone steles are engraved with Chinese characters with clear information and content about the times of restoration and embellishment of the pagoda and acknowledge the contributions of the people to build the pagoda. In addition, the pagoda also preserves 2 royal decrees from the Nguyen Dynasty, stone statues, bronze bells, altars, parallel sentences, large characters... These are all valuable antiques and heritages. Although built quite early, Ngoc Lo Pagoda still retains a relatively uniform architectural style of the letter "cong" and is an ancient and beautiful pagoda in Hai Duong. In 2001, the pagoda was ranked as a national monument.

As a resident of Ngoc Lo village, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lai often goes to the pagoda to visit the scenery and pray for peace. “For everyone in the village, the pagoda is not only a place to worship Buddha and pray for good luck, but also to nurture a good heart. Therefore, from the elderly to children, everyone likes to go to the pagoda at any time of the year, not just during holidays and Tet,” Ms. Lai shared.