Ancient Bo Da Pagoda named special national relic site
The Bac Giang provincial People’s Committee received a certificate recognising Bo Da Pagoda, an ancient Buddhist temple in Tien Son commune of Viet Yen district, as a special national relic site.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (R) presents the certificate recognising Bo Da Pagoda as a special national relic site to a Bac Giang official (Photo: VNA)
Bac Giang (VNA) – The Bac Giang provincial People’sCommittee received a certificate recognising Bo Da Pagoda, an ancient Buddhisttemple in Tien Son commune of Viet Yen district, as a special national relicsite on March 12.
Attending the ceremony were Deputy PrimeMinister Vu Duc Dam, representatives from ministries and central agencies, andleaders of Bac Giang province and Viet Yen district.
Presenting a certificate recognising the pagoda’s festival asa national intangible cultural heritage to Viet Yen district, Deputy Ministerof Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Thi Bich Lien urged the authorities andpeople of Bac Giang province and Viet Yen district to make an overall plan onpreserving the Bo Da Pagoda in the long run.
Bo Da Pagoda dates back to the Ly Dynasty in the 11th century and were upgradedduring the reign of King Le Du Tong in the 18th century. It is a famous Buddhist centrein the former Kinh Bac area, which is now Bac Giang, with unique traditionalarchitectural values.
The pagoda is the birthplace of the Lam TeBuddhist Zen sect. It is also preserving 1,935 Buddhist prayer woodblocks whichare the oldest of its kind made of Diospyros decandra wood in Vietnam.
It is home to the country’s biggest garden oftowers with 97 towers of all sizes keeping the sarira of 1,214 monks and nunsof the Lam Te Zen sect. The temple also accommodates 40 Buddhist statues datingback to the Le and Nguyen dynasties several hundreds of years ago.
The Bo Da Pagoda Festival, taking place from the16th to 18th day of the second lunar month, is dedicated to the gods protectingthe local people.-VNA
Whenever describing the Kinh Bacarea (an old name for a large area in northern Vietnam, covering the provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang), we always mentionthe two world heritage sites and hundreds of relic sites, beauty spots, and traditional craft villages.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recognised Bo Da pagoda festival in the northern province of Bac Giang as part of the national intangible cultural heritage.
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Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (R) presents the certificate recognising Bo Da Pagoda as a special national relic site to a Bac Giang official (Photo: VNA) 
