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Located in the Yen Tu mountain range, Van Tieu Pagoda is a familiar destination for travelers. Originally just a small hermitage called Tu Tieu Hermitage. After Emperor Tran Nhan Tong manifested as a Buddha, the second disciple, Phap Loa, built this place into a large pagoda. In 2001, the UNESCO Center for Vietnamese Buddhist Studies and Applications mobilized Buddhist devotees to build the pagoda. The name Van Tieu here means clouds, the Pagoda's significance is Pagoda in the clouds. The Pagoda sits to the west of the Yen Tu mountain range. The mountain range acts like a barrier blocking the sea breeze, causing the water vapor to condense into layers of clouds, gently drifting. The Pagoda appears and disappears in those layers of clouds.
In front of Van Tieu Pagoda, there is a Garden of Aspiring Fairy Towers (meaning seeing through to the fairy palace). The tower cluster consists of 06 stone and brick towers. The central tower is 09 floors high called the Nine-story Tower, built during the Nguyen dynasty, made of mountain stone, octagonal prism shape, eight tower faces symbolizing the eightfold path. The 'Aspiring Fairy Palace' tower garden is like a precious gem with two lush pine trees standing out on the green background of Yen Tu mountain forest. This is not a tomb tower of the monks' family, but just a common worship tower for all venerable monks and ancestors. The remaining 05 towers are all small, humble, they are 5 tomb towers of highly virtuous monks, venerable elders, who practiced at Van Tieu and passed away here.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address: Thuong Yen Cong, Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh
9. One-Roof Pagoda
One-Roof Pagoda perches on the slope of a small mountain about 500m to the left of Hoa Yen Pagoda, nestled on the mountainside in a high position amidst the sky, half of the pagoda hidden deep in the cave, the other half protruding outside with only a part of the roof, just as the name suggests. The pagoda used to be Thanh Long cave, according to legend, Emperor Tran Nhan Tong established the Ly Tran hermitage (escape from the secular world) for reading books and composing scriptures. After the venerable Ly Tran passed away, the hermitage was converted into Bồ Đà Pagoda, half of the pagoda roof is the cave vault, half of the pagoda roof protrudes outside, so the pagoda is called Ban Thien, Ban Mai, nowadays called One-Roof Pagoda.
The entire architecture of One-Roof Pagoda is made of wood, slightly taller than a person's head, half of the pagoda inside is a cave niche, the other half is built of wood with only one side of the roof. The pagoda has dimensions: length: 9.6m; depth: 1.7m; upper touch: 2.3m; from the pagoda floor to the rafters: 1.55m; half because of the roof width 0.9m; divided into four sections, the front wall system is wooden planks pieced together. The space inside the pagoda is narrow with the outer section being the cave vault roof, inside the cave niche, there is a stone knob, water drips slowly drop by drop all night, not even filling a small bowl. On the vault, there is also a small hole looking rough.
The main worship sections in the pagoda consist of 3 sections corresponding to 3 altars arranged from the outside in, including the Ancestor altar (including 3 statues of Tam To in the middle, on the left is the statue of Đức Ông, on the right is the statue of Tổ, behind the statue of Tam To, there are 3 stone tablets carved with characters to preserve events, characters related to the pagoda's past), the Three Jewels altar (including 3 statues of Tam Thế, 1 statue of Shakyamuni, 1 statue of Buddha and 1 statue of Mother), the rear altar inside is lower than the two outer altars (including 1 stone tablet carved with the year Bao Dai - 1936 and some other worship items). This is the birthplace of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address: Thuong Yen Cong, Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh
10. Cam Thuc Pagoda
Leaving Suoi Tam Pagoda, about 1,500 meters along the winding road along the Tam stream, travelers will reach Cam Thuc Pagoda, the third pagoda on the Yen Tu tour itinerary. This is where Emperor Tran Nhan Tong abstained from eating, only drinking spring water during his pilgrimage back to Yen Tu for practice, hence the name Cam Thuc. Cam Thuc Pagoda is also called Linh Nham Pagoda (Sacred Shadow). The pagoda sits atop a circular mountain peak. Pine trees are interspersed with forest trees around the pagoda. According to the pilgrimage route to Yen Tu, Cam Thuc Pagoda is considered a place for fasting practice to purify the body before entering the Buddha's realm.
The foundation trace of the pagoda's architecture is shaped like the Chinese character 'one' (一), consisting of 6 compartments, dating back to the Tran dynasty. During the anti-French resistance period, Cam Thuc Pagoda was a resistance base. The French invaders destroyed the pagoda. Only the ruins of the pagoda remained. The bell, statues, and worship items of the pagoda were secretly transferred by the local people to the temple near Suoi Tam. In front of the pagoda, there are three collapsed towers and a small tomb built during the Nguyen dynasty. Among the rubble, a wooden statue representing a Cham person was found nearly 400 years old. Since 1988, the local people have built a temporary pagoda here, built a bridge across the stream, a triple gate, and a stone-paved road to the pagoda. The present pagoda, built in 2004, has a foundation architecture shaped like the Chinese character 'nail' (丁), worshiping the Buddha according to the Northern Vietnamese temple ritual and worshiping the Three Ancestors of Truc Lam.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address: Yen Tu, Phuong Dong Ward, Uong Bi City, Quang Ninh
