Tran Quoc – The oldest pagoda in Hanoi.

Tran Quoc – The oldest pagoda in Hanoi.

Tran Quoc Pagoda is located on an island in the south of West Lake, one of the best scenic spots in Thang Long Hanoi, now in Ba Dinh district.

Tran Quoc is one of the oldest temples in Vietnam and has the longest history in Hanoi. The pagoda is located on a beautiful south of West Lake, with beautiful architecture harmonized with the environment around the West Lake, the pagoda is not only valuable on many aspects such as architecture, history and culture but also a place that attracts many Buddhists and visitors to Hanoi's best domestic and foreign visitors.


Tran Quoc Pagoda

The pagoda was first built in the time of King Ly Nam De (544-548) near the left bank of Red River, then named Khai Quoc Pagoda. By the Le The Tong Dynasty in the 15th century, the name was changed to An Quoc. In 1615, when the Red River changed the flow and to avoid the risk of erosion, the local people moved the whole temple to Kim Ngu island, which is the place as it is today, and in the 17th century Le Hy Tong regime, the pagoda changed name to Tran Quoc.


The pagoda was first built in the time of King Ly Nam De (544-548).

The pagoda was repaired and expanded in the years 1624, 1628 and 1639. At the beginning of the Nguyen Dynasty, the pagoda was restored. In 1821, King Minh Mang visited the temple, he donated 20 silver ounce to repair. In 1842, King Thieu Tri visited the pagoda, gave a large gold coin and 200 money, changed the name of the temple to Tran Bac, but the people still preferred Tran Quoc as the name had existed before.


Dam Sen in front of the temple

The structure and interior of the pagoda are arranged according to a very strict principle, there are many blocks with 3 main houses: Tien Duong, Thieu Huong, and Thuong Dien connected into Cong letters, there are many statues inside the Main Hall. Big and small Buddha statue made of wood painted with gold color. Next is the bell tower, on the right there is the master temple, on the left is stele, which still houses 14 steles, behind the garden there are a number of towering tombs dating back to the 18th century.


Presbytery

In the temple compound, there is also a six-level pagoda built in 1998, consisting of 11 floors of 15m high. Each floor has inner arches that place Amitabha Buddha statue in precious stones, the top of the tower has a 9-storey lotus tower made of precious stones. Opposite the Bodhi tree donated by the Indian President when visiting Hanoi in 1959. And the pagoda also attended when welcoming Indian President Patil (2008) visit and President of the Russian Federation Medvedev ( 2910) visited on a trip to Vietnam.


Pagoda tower

In the middle of the cloud of water, West Lake Tran Quoc Pagoda appears as a jewel. Amidst the boisterous flows of life every visitor entering Tran Quoc Pagoda is looking back to nature, finding the still moments of meditation, to find the values ​​of cultural history. Truly, this is one of the most beautiful pagodas in the country.