Vietnamese pagodas come up in birthplace of Buddhism
14:01 04/03/2009

      Several international pagodas, including Vietnamese, are making a strong impression on visitors to the birthplace of Buddhism in India-Nepal.

The cradle of Buddhism stretches from modern-day Nepal to two north Indian states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

In the past, during the golden age of Buddhism in the early Common Era, most residents here used to be Buddhists. But this religion gradually fell into decay following a strong Hindu revival, and many Buddhist temples and academies fell into disuse.

Now, most people in this area are Hindu or Muslim.

In the past two decades devotees from Buddhist countries around the world, including Vietnam, have been flocking here to build Buddhist architectural works and made efforts to revive the religion.

Vietnamese pagodas in Bodhgaya

Bodhgaya, where Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, spent 49 days sitting in deep meditation under a bodhi tree before attaining unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment, now has four Vietnamese pagodas.

They are the Viet Nam Phat Quoc Tu established by the Venerable Huyen Dieu from France, Do Sanh by a Vietnamese-American monk, Vien Giac by a Vietnamese-German monk, and Tinh Xa Ky Hoan by monk Thich Giac Vien from Vietnam’s southern coastal city of Vung Tau.

Work on the first Vietnamese pagoda, Viet Nam Phat Quoc Tu (Vietnam Buddhist Monastery), began in 1987. It architectural style is typical of Buddhist pagodas in Vietnam with tiled roofs and sculptured dragons on the curved edges of each roof.

Hanging on the walls inside the large pagoda are many ‘parallel sentences’ written by monk Huyen Dieu in Vietnamese instead of Chinese characters.

The builder of the Tinh Xa Ky Hoan pagoda, monk Thich Giac Vien, made a pilgrimage to Bodhgaya for the first time in 2004 and found many residents there were poor and many Indian monks had no place to practice their religious life.

Deeply affected, he prostrated in front of the bodhi tree and took an oath to regularly visit there to do charity work.

Since then, he has been visiting regularly, each time for six months, to help villagers drill wells, and build roads and schools.

Later, the local government gave him a piece of land to build a temple. Tinh Xa Ky Hoan was built and has become a popular destination for local villagers who have converted to Buddhism.

… in Lumbini, Nepal

In 1993, when the Vietnam Buddhist Monastery in Bodhgaya was still under construction, the Venerable Huyen Dieu was invited to meet the King of Nepal. He flew by the king’s private plane to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and was asked to choose an area for building a pagoda.

Work soon started on a Vietnam Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini, the first international pagoda in the holy site situated at the foothills of the Himalayas, some 250 kilometers southwest of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

At that time, the region was still deserted. The Venerable Huyen Dieu, also the chairman of the World Buddhist Federation, went around the world to inspire Buddhists into building more temples and pagodas in Lumbini, turning it into an international Buddhist pilgrimage site with 22 pagodas now.

… and elsewhere

Among the Vietnamese pagodas in India is Linh Son, managed by Vietnamese-American nun, Tri Thuan.

In the campus of the Linh Son pagoda is a primary school, built with funding from the pagoda to offer free education.

Another pagoda, Kieu Dam Di, is now under construction in Vaishali.

Expected to be the largest and most beautiful Vietnamese pagoda in India, it was estimated to cost some US$1 million, nun Khiet Minh from Ho Chi Minh City’s district 4, who is supervising the construction, said.

Minh said the money for it was contributed by Buddhists around the world.

Doing charity

Vietnamese monks and nuns in India and Nepal are actively involved in several activities to help local residents.

Nun Khiet Minh assists children in Vaishali with their studies while monk Giac Vien has helped villagers dig wells and build schools, and brought over teachers to teach children.

Venerable Huyen Dieu has called Buddhists to contribute funds for building a bridge in Lumbini. He said more than $90,000 was raised while the bridge only cost $35,000. He later returned the money to donors.

The Venerable Huyen Dieu has urged residents in Lumbini to protect the flamingo, a rare bird. Thanks to his efforts, the area is now home to nearly 70 flamingoes migrating from the Himalayan range every year.

Reported by Huynh Ngoc Chenh – Translated by Thu Thuy

Source : thanhniennews.com