We chose these three pagodas because all three are in beautiful locations, with the atmosphere of the ancient capital, no matter how much remains. Even though tomorrow is the full moon day of the first lunar month, "the whole year's festivities are not as good as the full moon day of the first lunar month", we are afraid of the hustle and bustle of the other pagodas, temples, palaces and temples, typical of the strange people:
"I'm foolish, I look for a deserted place
"Wise people go to bustling places" (Leisurely Scenery - Nguyen Binh Khiem)
Fortunately, as soon as I stepped into the first temple, Thien Nien (Trich Sai) Temple, a gentle and peaceful scene opened up before my eyes. The worshippers were sparsely scattered in the spacious and airy temple yard. The sound was quiet, without the harsh sound of loudspeakers making misspelled voices or people shouting at each other to carry offerings and park their vehicles. The best thing was the gentle spring breeze carrying the scent of Ngau flowers and other flowers and the sweet smell of ripe fruit mixed with the scent of young leaves, the damp smell of water vapor in the drizzle this morning... wafting far and wide, making visitors from all over feel strangely happy.
I told my friend: actually, if you want to see spring flowers, going to the temple is the best way to see the most beautiful flowers.
I told my friend: actually, if you want to see spring flowers, you should go to the temple to see the most beautiful flowers, because the most beautiful, plumpest, freshest and most fragrant flower trees and fruit pots... will be brought by everyone to respectfully offer to Buddha. Every time we go to each temple, after offering flowers to Buddha, we all walk around the temple like sightseeing, to admire the peach blossom tree in full bloom, the ancient peach pot with bright red flowers, the small Buddha's hand tree with many ripe, golden fruits, giving off a refreshing scent. The gentle scent of the Ngau flowers lingers as if accompanying every step, probably because all three temples are quiet and leisurely, so the Ngau flower scent is not overwhelmed by the strong scent of incense or the billowing smoke of votive paper like other "famous" temples.
My group of friends includes a few from Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia, who have just returned home for Tet after several years of Covid. They are engrossed in admiring the pots of golden kumquat trees, happily posing for pictures next to peach trees, rows of tiny white-flowered Ngau trees, and exclaiming over the white rose bushes still wet with night dew, rainwater, or fragrant cinnamon rose bushes: Our roses are like that, beautiful in color, fragile but sweetly fragrant, unlike the big Western roses whose flower scent is absent.
The gentle yet lingering floral scent accompanies every step.
I really enjoyed this morning. After a 10km cycling trip, I arrived at the meeting place with my friend and finished off a bowl of bamboo vermicelli with grilled pork near Nui Truc Street. Then, I found a nice parking spot. The group leisurely strolled to the temples one by one. Spring is often full of miasma, and it is also the humid season that makes many people feel uncomfortable, especially those with chronic rhinitis and sinusitis. But since I moved from the "earthen house" to a higher place, avoiding the time when the "floor sweats", I find this humid season strangely lovely. The drizzling rain drops wisps of mist like fragile clouds of smoke that drift down across the treetops, helping the trees and leaves, especially the low-leafed vegetation, to be infused with sap. The whole space of flowers, leaves, and grasses has a full vitality that is easy to feel, creating an excitement that is hard to hide. Wet leaves, dew-covered flowers, and green buds, sometimes draped in a pearl necklace of water on layers of spider webs, created a sense of excitement and wonder.
Every time we passed a pagoda, there was a small slope leading down to Ve Ho Street, close to the edge of West Lake. Surrounding it were the communal houses of the ancient villages of Xuan Tao and Nhat Tan, which were ancient and beautiful. These architectural works would be more beautiful if there weren’t red cloths with the words “Happy New Year” written across the main gate, some stretched, some loose, looking rickety, fluttering in the New Year’s Spring wind.
Precious Buddha statues, majestic temples and palaces.
How many pagodas like this are there in Thang Long Citadel? How many pagodas like this are there in the whole Dai Viet? I sat down to rest on a stone bench in the yard of Tao Sach Pagoda and silently asked myself. Only then did I know how rich our country is in culture, how lucky we are to have inherited so many precious treasures from our ancestors. Precious Buddha statues, majestic pagoda roofs and palaces gilded with gold "standing the test of time" through many years of turmoil, stupas, beautiful and exquisite sculptures, hundreds of years old giant trees as big as several people's arms are still rooted deep into the soil of Thang Long, sucking up sap to "protect the land, protect the village". And what are we doing with these precious heritages that have been fortunate enough to be entrusted to us by our ancestors?
Having inherited and enjoying it like my friends and I, we must do something to develop and preserve it. Without further development, it will certainly wither away.
