Unique set of Three Buddha statues at Con Son Pagoda

Unique

Con Son Pagoda, part of the Con Son - Kiep Bac special national relic site, was built in the late 13th century and completed in the 14th century. The stele states that the pagoda used to have over 300 statues. Over time and war, the number of statues has decreased significantly. However, the Buddhist temple still preserves statues with deep historical and cultural values, the most prominent of which is the Three Buddhas.

The Three Worlds Buddha statues include three deities: the Buddha of the Past, the Buddha of the Present, and the Buddha of the Future. The full name is "Three Worlds eternally abiding wonderful Dharma body". Dharma body is the true body, the essence of the Dharma, the nature of the Dharma. Wonderful means beautiful, bright, clean, delicate, miraculous, free from afflictions. Eternal means always existing, always the same, not dependent on any conditions, not born, not destroyed, not changing, not interrupted... That means the past, present, and future exist eternally, not dependent on the form, name, color, and appearance of the visible world, not dependent on space and time.

Another meaning associated with the names of these Buddhas is "Three Worlds Three Thousand Buddhas", including "Past World" with 1,000 different Buddhas as the main, "Present World" also includes 1,000 other Buddhas, "Future World" has 1,000. Thus, although there are only three statues of the Three Worlds, they represent 3,000 Buddhas, in three great kalpas (each great kalpa corresponds to 1,344,000,000 years) without specifically naming any Buddha.

According to many sources, the Three Worlds Buddha is the oldest set of statues at Con Son Pagoda, a unique original artifact, preserved from the Le Trung Hung period until now. This set of statues fully reflects the structure of the Three Worlds statue system, which is the most important set of statues in Buddhist temples in Northern Vietnam.

Special

The Three Buddha statues of Con Son Pagoda are made of wood, covered with red lacquer and gilded, consisting of 3 parts: the statue body, the lotus throne and the wooden pedestal. Each statue is 1.55-1.75m high, weighing about 100kg. The statues all have special historical values, are very rare shapes, and are works of art with aesthetic value representing a style and a historical period.

In terms of plastic arts, the Tam The statues of Con Son pagoda continue to inherit the style of the Mac dynasty and are typical of the style of the Le Trung Hung period. The statues are carved with the Sahasra symbol (the symbol on the top of the head) as an independent sphere. The Sahasra statue style in the form of a nearly round block is usually only found in Buddha statues of the "Mac style" (the second half of the 16th century - the beginning of the 17th century), currently there are less than 10 statues remaining in Con Son pagoda, Thai Lai pagoda, Ba Te (Hanoi)... However, these statues are still qualified to represent a separate style, not yet influenced by the two Buddhist sects of Cao Dong and Lam Te, but still retain the style of Buddha statue making from the Ly dynasty.

The head of the statue has a broad skull, a slimmer jaw, and an oval face. According to some researchers of traditional art ethnology, this is a detail to express the high development of intelligence. The statue's hair is spiral, covering the head and the sideburns down to the middle of the ears, covering the cheekbones. The statue has a face with standard portrait features, close to the face of an Indian with a high, straight nose, curved eyelids, prominent eyes, a full, well-proportioned mouth, and the corners of the mouth curved upwards. The face has many religious details but is still very kind and elegant. This is a natural face, not exaggerated to be associated with many noble details that later people often imposed.

The statue's body is thick, the chest is full, the belly is moderately slim, the sitting posture is soft, graceful, and rhythmic. In particular, the cassock seems to have only one layer and is tight-fitting, as if inherited from the Ly Dynasty style.

Another special thing about the Three Worlds Buddha statues at Con Son Pagoda is the cassock wrapped in a piece of cloth from the left shoulder down to the right side, leaving the shoulder, arm and half of the chest exposed. The phenomenon of the right shoulder being dislocated in these statues seems to show respect for the superiors, which in this case is Buddha respecting the Dharma. In the treasure trove of ancient Vietnamese art, there are statues of the Three Worlds in every pagoda, most of the Buddha statues wear cassocks covering the whole body, with two halves balanced, called Tang gia le (including the inner robe, the middle robe and the outer robe). However, the style of wearing cassocks like the Three Worlds Buddha statues at Con Son Pagoda is very rare, in the whole country it is only found at Hiep Thuan Pagoda (Phuc Tho, Hanoi).

The lotus throne under the statues is in the style of the Mac Dynasty. The block is tense, the lotus petals are bulging and full, the tips of the lotus petals have edges...

The Three Worlds Buddha statues of Con Son pagoda are one of the few beautiful statues of the Le Trung Hung period. The statues are carved very carefully, with attention to every detail. The statues carry the meaning of natural forces, reflecting the custom of praying for rain and crops, which is the constant desire of the Vietnamese people in the Northern Delta. The simple and liberal element of the indigenous mind has Vietnamized religious patterns, creating cultural integration in the pagoda.

The Three Buddha statues recognized as national treasures contribute to honoring cultural heritages of typical value, raising public awareness of heritage protection, creating favorable conditions for preserving and promoting heritage values ​​in the special national relic site of Con Son - Kiep Bac in the coming time.