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The temple is called Quan Am Temple on Bo Da Mountain, also known as Bo Da Son Quan Am Son Tu, or simply Bo Temple, or Tu An Temple. It dates back to the Ly Dynasty and was rebuilt during the reign of King Le Du Tong.
Furthermore, it is a place that preserves the original traditional Vietnamese architecture, and is quite unique with its "inner connection, outer enclosure" style, creating a tranquil, serene, and sacred atmosphere, not focused on grandeur and magnificence, but rather on continuity, spaciousness, and a desire for the serenity of the Buddhist realm.
Here, you can admire the unique earthen wall architecture, from the temple gate to the surrounding walls stretching for hundreds of meters, all made of ancient, solemn, yellowish-brown earthen walls.
Admire the world's oldest woodblock-printed Buddhist scriptures, national treasures.
The temple also preserves nearly 2000 wooden printing blocks of Buddhist scriptures, comprising 18 main sets of scriptures, mostly carved during the Le Dynasty in the 18th century and the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century. The earliest woodblocks date back to 1740, and the latest to the early 20th century.
Notable examples include the Shurangama Sutra, the Karma Assembly Sutra, and the Nanhai Chronicle. To this day, the woodblock collection remains relatively intact, with nearly 2,000 blocks carved in Chinese, Nom script, and Sanskrit on persimmon wood. Large-format blocks are still used to print and engrave petitions and documents for performing rituals in temples. The content of these woodblocks reflects the profound philosophical ideas of Buddhism in general and the Linji Zen school in particular, with skillful and exquisite lines, motifs, and shapes. Prominent among them are carvings of the Buddha Shakyamuni seated on a lotus pedestal, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, and various Arhats.
In 2017 and 2018, the collection of Buddhist scripture woodblocks from Bo Da Pagoda was honored with a decision by the Prime Minister recognizing it as a "National Treasure" and recognized by the World Records Alliance - Worldkings as the "Oldest collection of Buddhist scripture woodblocks in the world".
The current state of the woodblocks' storage is so shoddy that anyone who visits feels "worried" about whether these precious scriptures might be lost or damaged.
The largest pagoda garden in Vietnam
The Bodhi Temple complex also features a stupa garden built according to the strict regulations of the Zen Buddhist tradition, with 110 stupas arranged in rows and layers, housing the relics and ashes of over 2,000 monks and nuns of the Bodhi sect, most of which are ancient stupas. In 2016, the Bodhi Temple stupa garden was recognized by the Vietnam Record Association as the largest stupa garden in Vietnam.
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Currently, the pagoda attracts many Buddhist followers from all over and tourists who come to admire the wooden printing blocks of Buddhist scriptures – a national treasure. The Bo Da Pagoda complex also possesses a system of ancient Buddha statues and many valuable relics and artifacts. Each document and artifact has its own value and meaning, reflecting different historical periods in the formation and development of the Bo Da Buddhist Center.
Lam Tue(Photo: Various authors)
