Phat Tich Pagoda is located in Phat Tich commune, where the intersection between An Indian Buddhist culture and ancient Vietnamese folk beliefs. In addition to the architectural beauty from the Ly Dynasty, the pagoda is also famous for its precious Amitabha Buddha statue made entirely from monolithic blue stone. This is an extremely spiritual tourist attraction that attracts visitors from all over the world to visit and worship.
Phat Tich Pagoda – witnesses of historical ups and downs
Phat Tich Pagoda , also known as Van Phuc Pagoda, belongs to Phat Tich village, Phat Tich commune, Tien Du district, Bac Ninh province . Like Dau Pagoda, But Thap Pagoda,… Phat Tich Pagoda is a typical historical and cultural relic in Bac Ninh. According to the book “Dai Viet history full letter”, the Phat Tich Pagoda was built in the fourth Thai Binh year (1057) with many horizontal and vertical buildings.
In 1066, King Ly Thanh Tong built a tall tower at the pagoda. Legend has it that after the tower fell, the inside was a monolithic green stone statue of Amitabha Buddha inlaid with gold. Before the miraculous appearance of this Buddha statue, the village was renamed Buddha Tich. Experiencing ups and downs of time, Phat Tich Pagodaseverely damaged. Until 1686, the new pagoda was rebuilt on a large scale and renamed Van Phuc Tu.
Phat Tich Pagoda is located on Phat Tich mountain
But then the period of prosperity and prosperity of the Buddhist Temple only lasted for nearly 300 years. The war against the French colonialists caused the pagoda to be damaged and severely damaged. The pagoda is only restored when peace is restored. In 1959, the Ministry of Culture rebuilt 3 small pagodas to house the precious stone statue of Amitabha. By April 1962, the State officially recognized Phat Tich Pagoda as a historical and cultural relic.
The unique architectural features of Phat Tich Pagoda
Phat Tich Pagoda is located on the southern slope of Phat Tich mountain (also known as Lan Kha mountain, non-Tien), 20 km east of Hanoi, the door opens to the West, in front of it is the Duong River. From the temple gate up to the tower garden, the temple area has 3 layers. Going from the entrance of the temple through a flat road is stone steps to the temple garden. This is a high land and embankment with solid stones in the shape of a rectangular box crafted from the Ly Dynasty. Going all 30 steps, visitors will reach the bell tower platform leading to the temple. Symmetrically located between the two stone steps are two rows of stone worshiping animal statues, including 10 animals: crocodile, horse, buffalo, elephant, lion (each breed has two children), making the way to the pagoda more mysterious. 
Stone steps lead up to the Buddhist Temple
The summoned beast statues are placed along the sides of the temple
Phat Tich Pagoda was built in the architectural style “foreign internal public”. In front of the large temple courtyard is a colorful peony garden. To the right of the pagoda is the shrine to worship Lord Tran Thi Ngoc Am – the first palace of Lord Trinh Trang monk in this pagoda. Here, it remains the saying “The First Palace of the Buddha’s Land. The third family dance of the first incense ”. She is a person who has great merit in the restoration of the pagoda and spent money with people in 13 villages to build communal houses here. On the left of the pagoda is the first ancestor’s house to worship Chuyet Cong Ly Thien To. He died at the temple in 1644. Currently the temple still retains the statue of Chuyet, which burned down while sitting in meditation.
Ancient Buddhist architecture at the temple
After many remodeling up to now, Phat Tich pagoda now has 7 pavilions to use for welcoming guests, 5 rooms for worshiping Buddha, Amitabha and the Three Buddhas, 8 ancestors and 7 rooms. Holy Mother Church. The pagoda carries the typical Buddhist architecture of the Ly dynasty and is a famous Buddhist pilgrimage site that many people visit.
Check – in Phat Tich pagoda
Besides precious ancient architectural works, Phat Tich Pagodaalso famous for its ancient stone sculpture, the most famous one is the Amitabha stone statue. According to art researchers, this is an art sculpture from the Ly Dynasty. The Buddha was meditating in the full lotus style, holding the Tam Muoi seal, his whole body made of monolithic blue stone leaning slightly forward. The statue is shaped in a balance between the body and the head according to the ratio of “four quarters of the ventricles”, meaning that the head accounts for 1/4 of the sitting body and accounts for 1/7 of the standing body. The head of the statue has Ushnisha, a raised bun and a smiling mouth that reveals a full and mysterious feminine beauty. The statue wears two layers of clothing, the outside of the body wears a thin layer of clothing covering from the shoulder to the back. The creases running from the body to the thighs embrace the soft legs of the “Gandhara” school’s sculptural style.
The famous Amitabha stone statue of the temple
Amitabha statue is located on the pedestal of a two-storey lotus-shaped stone tower with many sophisticated carvings. Both the body and the pedestal have a total height of 4.7 meters, of which the lotus stone pedestal is 1.7 meters long, 0.8 meters wide and 0.36 meters high. The upper floor is touched with soft flower strings, the underside is stylized water wave. The sides of both floors were carved with dragons playing together hidden in the clouds. All are very sophisticated and lively, showing the meticulous feats of skilled craftsmen. During the period when Phat Tich village was occupied by the French, French soldiers used Amitabha stone statues to use as stele to practice firing, causing heavy damage. The statue’s head was broken, the body was shot by bullets. At that time, there was an old man in the village who discreetly took the statue’s head for storage. After peace is restored,
Not only a spiritual tourist destination, this place is also very attractive with many beautiful scenes
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