Tran Quoc Pagoda is one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam.
It was constructed in 541 during the Early Ly Dynasty and was originally located in Yen Hoa village. At that time is was called Khai Quoc Pagoda.
King Le Thai Tong changed the name to An Quoc, as a wish for the country to be peaceful.
In 1615, King Le Kinh Tong moved the pagoda to its current location on the old foundations of Han Nguyen Palace (Tran Dynasty) and Thuy Hoa Palace (Ly Dynasty)
After the pagoda became stationary, Kings built supporting structures, such as corridors and gates and added to the continuing care and maintenance of the area. It was under King Le Hy Ton the pagoda was named Tran Quoc Pagoda. Have no idea why, but there is that tid bit of information to tickle your brain.
Tran Quoc Pagoda follows the Northern Buddhist sect. Our tour guide was mute on what exactly that meant, but research is a wonderful thing.
The alters inside the temple are to Amitabha Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Amitabha Buddha is known for his wisdom, mercy and association with the afterlife.
Sakyamuni Buddha represents the enlightenment of the Buddha, and his teachings of compassion, wisdom, and mindfulness
Guanyin Bodhisattva is Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion. Sometimes Guanyin is represented as female, but not always.
I have now exhausted my knowledge on the 3 alters, and that was found on a sign in the area. I have no idea which was which, but they were pretty, and a lot of people were praying to them.
This is a very nice location to see, but I am struggling to understand the tour guide. He is very friendly, knowledgeable (I believe), and motivated to show us things. He also likes to repeat himself, which does not help when he does not know the words he is looking for. He can say ‘door’ ‘high’ and ‘safe’ 30 times but until he motioned to the gate, no one was sure what he was talking about.
Don’t get me wrong. Mad respect for anyone who speaks, or tries to speak more than one language. Madly jealous of those who do and very frustrated at my attempts to grasp even simple words for long term use in another language. But for a tour company to call this person “English speaking with more than 5 years of experience” was a stretch.
Having no idea what to look at other than what other people were looking at, we wondered around and missed the main feature, the pagoda, entirely until it was time to leave. So I did not get inside, or even all the way around it, but some lovely pictures from our way out.
And a homework assignment to do more research on Buddha statues if not the entire religion. Great. Homework. I’m on vacation.
