CHÙA THIÊN MỤ
People have just visited Hue Citadel, a unique and ancient architectural work
that was the living place of kings and officials of the Nguyen Dynasty.
Right now, our group will move to a place of ancient beauty, located right next
to the romantic Perfume River and also built during the Nguyen Dynasty in
1691 - 1725 by Lord Nguyen Hoang named it Thien Mu Pagoda.
Located on Ha Khe hill, on the banks of the Perfume River, about 5km from
Hue city center. Legend has it that when Lord Nguyen Hoang came to Ha Khe
commune, he saw a highland floating plain like a dragon looking back. Ask the
locals, they say this mound is very sacred. Legend has it that in the past,
someone saw an old woman wearing a red shirt and blue pants sitting on a
mound and said: 'A true lord must come and build a temple here, and collect
sacred gas to maintain the dragon vein'. After saying that, it disappeared, so it
was called Thien Mu mountain. Self-identifying as the true lord, Nguyen
Hoang built a pagoda called Thien Mu Pagoda. Heaven is heaven, Mother is a
woman. The reason he named this Thien Mu was to express his gratitude to that
woman in red.
Thien Mu Pagoda, also known as Linh Mu Pagoda, is an ancient temple located
in Hue. Why do some people call it Thien Mu pagoda and some people call it
Linh Mu pagoda? Because in the past, King Tu Duc - the 4th king of the
Nguyen Dynasty, had 103 wives but could not bear any children. Because when
he was a child, the king had a first-season illness. However, the King still
thought that the word "Thien" would touch heaven. So in 1682, the king
changed the name to Linh Mu pagoda (Sacred woman). But in 1689, the king
still had no children, so since then the pagoda has two names Thien Mu and
Linh Mu. Thien Mu Pagoda has long been a popular tourist destination for
spirituality in Hue. This temple not only has a beautiful ancient architecture but
also attracts the mysterious stories behind it. Compared with temples in Hue,
Thien Mu Pagoda was built with the bold ancient architecture of the ancient
capital.
In the year of Tan Ox 1601, Thien Mu Pagoda was officially started
construction under the Pre-Nguyen Hoang dynasty. By 1691 - 1725, the pagoda
was built on a larger scale and restored with many massive architectural works
such as: Dai Hung Palace. , the theory house, the Tang Kinh floor, etc., there
are many works that are no longer preserved to this day. In 1844, the pagoda
was restored with octagonal Phuoc Duyen tower and Huong Nguyen communal
house. The historic storm in 1904 devastated the pagoda and damaged many
structures. It was not until 1907 that it was rebuilt, but not as before.
Experiencing many times of architecture and restoration, today the pagoda still
retains many large-scale and massive works and many valuable antiques such
as Buddha statue, parallel diaphragm and car relic. left by the late Venerable
Thich Quang Duc after setting himself on fire on the street to protest against
the persecution of Buddhism. Entering the gate of the temple, people will see
Phuoc Duyen Tower, the symbol of Thien Mu Pagoda, Phuoc Duyen Tower has
7 floors, each floor is 2m high, built of brick, the curb is built of bar stone
transported from Thanh Hoa to Thanh Hoa. . The front of the tower faces south,
where the Perfume River runs through. The tower has an octagonal shape, slim
at the top and big at the bottom. In the tower, there is the Kinh Kinh floor,
which stores 1000 sets of Buddhist scriptures that God gave people to buy in
China. And on the first floor, there are 4 words "Phuoc Duyen Bao Thap"
which is the name of this tower. The temple grounds are quite large and airy,
with flower gardens, rockeries, a series of stone steles recording the history of
the pagoda's construction and the king's poems, especially the poem "Thien Mu
Chung Thanh" composed by the king.
Trên bến gò xưa chùa lập ra
Bên trời tự tại mãi Gương Nga
Tiếng ngân trăm tám tan trăm oán
Thế giới ba ngàn giải nợ ba
Chuông động giữa trưa miền tối ám
Kinh gieo canh sớm đạo tăng gia
Truyền công Phật Thánh tràn non nước
Nhân quả ươm lành khắp chốn xa.
Because of that special ancient architecture, Thien Mu is always a top
destination for domestic and foreign guests.
And this is the time when everyone goes to checkin, half an hour later our
group will gather at Phuoc Duyen tower to move to the car. After a period of
sightseeing, you must be hungry too. Then guide Thuc Trinh will be the one to
accompany the group to Hue's specialty food court.
