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> Trang Quoc
Pagoda - National Defense Pagoda
This pagoda may be
one of the oldest in Vietnam. According to legend,
it was built during the Nam De Dynasty (544-548).
Originally, the pagoda had been built adjacent to
the Cai River and called Khai Quoc (Founding of
the Nation). Its name was changed to An Quoc
Pagoda. Then in the reign of King Le Kinh Tong
(1600-18), the river bank broke, the people
removed the pagoda and rebuilt it on Ca Vang
island in the middle of West Lake (its current
location) where the Ly Kings had built Thuy Hoa
Hall and the Tran Dynasty had constructed Ham
Nguyen Palace. King Le Hy Tong (16680-1705)
changed its name to Tran Quoc. The present pagoda
still maintains a unique architecture so different
from other pagodas. At the front, there is a
visitors hall before entering the interior of the
pagoda. At the rear there are two corridors and a
bell tower. Inside the pagoda are various
beautiful statues, the most notable of which is
the wooden gilded statue of Shakyamuni Buddha.
There are also stone slab steles, the oldest of
which was built in 1639 on which Dr. Nguyen Xuan
Chinh wrote the history of the major repair to
this pagoda in that very year. There is a
luxuriant Bo tree in the pagoda's current
playground that was a monument presented by the
President of India who paid a visit to the pagoda
in 1959.
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