But Thap Pagoda

On a dike of the Duong River , 30 km away from Hanoi lays the But Thap Pagoda.  This tranquil pagoda sits amidst brilliant green rice paddies and hemp fields, its amazing sculptures offset by the stunning landscapes.

But Thap Pagoda is one of the finest pagodas in Northern Vietnam and well known as the first Buddhist centre nationwide. History places its influence beginning in the 13th century and continuing until the Late Le Dynasty 3 centuries later.

Its fame grew after its reconstruction by a Chinese Buddhist priest named Zhus Zhus, known as Chuyet Chuyet in Vietnamese.

According to legend, when leaving his former pagoda on the northern bank of the Duong River , priest Chuyet Chuyet saw a flock of flying swallows suddenly swooping down and perch on the ground on the southern bank of the river, he decided to rebuild the pagoda there and named it Ninh Phuc Tu, which means "peace and blessing".

Later, the pagoda is also connected with Queen Trinh Thi Ngoc Truc, a daughter of Lord Trinh Trang. Disobeying her father’s demand that she marry King Le Than Tong (1619-1643) after her husband’s death, she devoted herself to the Buddhism religion and raised money to restore the Ninh Phuc Tu. During this time she wrote “Ngoc Am Chi Nam ”, considered to be the first Han-Nom (Chinese-Vietnamese) dictionary.

Another historical reference says that King Tu Duc, on his field research tour of Kinh Bac (Bac Ninh today) in 1876, saw the beautiful stone stupa shaped like a pen at this pagoda and renamed it "But Thap".

The architecture of But Thap pagoda follows the "Noi Cong Ngoai Quoc" (Nei Kung Wai Kwo) style with the shape of the Chinese script Kung inside and the script Kwo outside. Passing through the three-entrance gate, then an eight - roof bell tower, you will approach the main temple complex of 10 buildings covering 100 square meters. Two towers, Ton Duc, 10 meters high and Bao Nghiem 13 meters high, are made of white rock, making the pagoda seem higher, more majestic and peaceful.

Inside the pagoda there are more than 50 statues of different sizes. Some artifacts from the 17th century are kept here such as statues, valuable donations, a Nine-Story Lotus Tower , Tuyet Son Statue, and the most notable, a Statue of Kwan Yin with 1,000 arms and 1,000 eyes, described as a sculptural masterpiece of Vietnam .

The last renovation of the structure in 1992 preserved the original look and feel of the pagoda.  New layers of lacquer and paint did nothing but enhance the charm of But Thap Pagoda and its unique atmosphere.