Tiếng Việt
The wonderland of An Giang is famous for its rolling hills of various heights, spiritual stories, and sacred temples and pagodas known throughout the country. Among them, Chau Doc Hang Pagoda is also a pagoda with an extremely beautiful location, nestled on the mountainside, and widely visited by tourists from near and far for sightseeing and worship. Let’s learn about Chau Doc Hang Pagoda through the shares below.
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Where is Chau Doc Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu)?
Hang Pagoda is located on the slope of Sam Mountain, in Chau Doc City, An Giang. Hang Pagoda has been recognized as a National Historical and Cultural Relic, becoming an ideal destination attracting many tourists from near and far to visit, worship, pray, and take photos.
Hang Pagoda is also known as Phuoc Dien Tu, where Phuoc refers to blessings, and Dien refers to land (fields), which is a meaningful name referring to the land where blessings are sown.
I will leave a location link for directions to Hang Pagoda so that everyone can easily choose a means of transportation and route. If you want to go to Hang Pagoda, click here!
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History and Legendary Tales of An Giang Hang Pagoda
Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu) not only possesses breathtaking scenery but is also associated with many legendary tales about its origin and connection to this land. Legend has it that Hang Pagoda was built around the years 1840 to 1850, initially just a small bamboo and leaf hermitage. At that time, the builder of the hermitage was Ms. Tho, full name Le Thi Tho (1818 – 1899), with the dharma name Dieu Thien. She was a tailor in Cho Lon but her heart always turned to Buddhism, so she built this place for cultivation.
In 1885, admiring Ms. Tho’s virtue, Mr. Phan Thong in Chau Doc and the people of this area voluntarily donated money to build her a spacious pagoda with tile floors, ironwood columns, and curved tile roofs. Later, in 1937, Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu) was renovated and upgraded for the second time by Venerable Thich Hue Thien. Currently, the pagoda has entered its third generation of abbots, Venerable Thich Thien Chon, and is also increasingly being completed, both as a spiritual place and to serve visitors from all over.
Associated with the history of Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu) is also the story of the divine snake pair that has been passed down to this day. According to legend, right next to the hermitage, there was a very deep mountain cave, inside which lived a pair of large pythons.
Since Ms. Tho came here to build the hermitage for cultivation, the pythons were no longer ferocious, catching animals or harming people. Instead, they often crawled to the hermitage, lying quietly beside Ms. Tho to listen to the sutras. Gradually, the pythons were moved by her; they ate vegetarian food, chased away wild animals, and protected Ms. Tho’s cultivation place. Then, Ms. Tho and the pythons became more and more attached; she even named them Thanh Xa and Bach Xa. However, after Ms. Tho passed away, the pythons also disappeared, and no one has seen them again since.
Later, pilgrims walking up Sam Mountain or to Hang Pagoda have sometimes seen a large white snake lying near the gate of Hang Pagoda, people believe even more in the mystical story in this “Wonderland.”
It is unclear whether the truth of this legend is true or not, but this mysterious That Son land has many similar spiritual stories that are widely spread by word of mouth, large animals hidden deep in the mountains and forests that are moved by Buddhism become gentle, which is also a lesson to teach people to be kind and live righte
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How Beautiful is Chau Doc Hang Pagoda?
Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu) is located on the slope of Sam Mountain, so it possesses extremely picturesque scenery. The pagoda leans against the mountain, with a wide and airy view, a quiet and solemn space. Surrounding Hang Pagoda are deep green forests and majestic mountains, a beautiful natural painting that adorns this century-old pagoda.
Because the pagoda is located halfway up the mountain, to reach the pagoda’s campus, you will have to follow stone steps, steep and quite upright, but not too tiring because there are many cool green trees here. Reaching the pagoda, opening before your eyes is a large campus, fresh air, unique architecture, and brilliant bougainvillea bushes.
In the Hang Pagoda campus, there is a very large water lily pond, surrounded by many types of flowers, creating a peaceful and poetic scene for this place.
Chau Doc Hang Pagoda has a separate shrine for Maitreya Buddha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and 4 Dharma protectors in a standing position looking down at the foot of the mountain. Deep inside the pagoda campus, you will see two stupas designed with brilliant colors and elaborate carvings. These two stupas are places to worship the two abbots who made the greatest contribution to the construction and formation of Hang Pagoda, Ms. Dieu Thien and monk Thich Hue Thien.
The main hall of Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu) is not too large but is built very solemnly, decorated with extremely artistic reliefs. The main hall houses the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and some other gods guarding it. In front of the pagoda is a 20m high pennant and statues of white animal mascots. Below the steps are two quite vivid lion statues.
Passing through the main hall area, you will see a small hermitage located right next to the natural cave, which is also the origin of the pagoda’s name. Inside the cave, there are also two shrines and two large statues of Thanh Xa and Bach Xa, their eyes lit up with lights creating a mysterious spiritual effect. Besides the shrines, Hang Pagoda (Phuoc Dien Tu) currently also builds other works so that visitors can rest or stay overnight.
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Chau Doc Hang Pagoda – An Ideal Location for Artistic Photoshoots
Recently, in addition to being a spiritual tourist destination for tourists from near and far to visit, worship, and pray for themselves and their families, wishing for peace, Chau Doc Hang Pagoda is also a favorite destination for young people and chosen as a place to take super cool photoshoots.
The scenery at Hang Pagoda is truly beautiful, just raise the camera and you have a great photo angle, the photos here mostly carry a nostalgic, gentle, peaceful, quiet, and very artistic vibe.
Let’s see the photo angles that prove Hang Pagoda is truly beautiful below!
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Notes When Visiting Chau Doc Hang Pagoda, An Giang
When visiting Chau Doc Hang Pagoda, you need to pay attention to the following:
- Do not laugh or talk too loudly, affecting those around you as well as the peaceful and solemn space of the pagoda.
- Clothing needs to be neat, absolutely not too revealing or offensive.
- Keep your personal belongings carefully, avoid loss. If you go on full moon days or near Tet, you need to protect your belongings more carefully because the pagoda is very crowded at this time.
- When offering incense and praying, please put it in the incense burner at the pagoda, do not put it randomly in other areas.
- You should also choose suitable shoes to move up the steps leading to the pagoda.
- Only take photos or videos in permitted locations.
- Maintain general hygiene at the pagoda, do not litter to avoid affecting the aesthetics of the pagoda.
Above is information related to Chau Doc Hang Pagoda – a spiritual destination that is loved by many young people for its beauty and peacefulness. Hope you will like this place.
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