Dia Tang Phi Lai Pagoda (Ninh Trung village, Liem Son commune, Thanh Liem district) has recently become famous for attracting visitors because of its natural beauty, peace and tranquility. In the warm spring atmosphere, people from everywhere come to the pagoda with many emotions. Especially on weekends, tens of thousands of visitors come to the pagoda to immerse themselves in the pure, pristine space of nature between mountains, hills and fields...
Ms. Viet Dung and 40 other women traveled from Dong Trieu, Quang Ninh province to Dia Tang Phi Lai pagoda at 8:30 am. This was the second time Ms. Dung and her colleagues had visited and worshipped Buddha at the pagoda. Ms. Dung was excited: “Today is the first day of the second lunar month, we left very early to come here to visit and worship the pagoda. Although we have been there before, the scenery and people here attracted us so we definitely came back, and will definitely come back many times. This is an ancient pagoda, coming here in the drizzly, warm spring weather like this, I really feel relaxed. I think the trip gives us a lot of energy to return to our busy lives, work more effectively, and be more optimistic.”
Groups of tourists and Buddhists from all over the country come to the pagoda in an orderly manner. Cars are parked about 2km away from the pagoda, and visitors travel to the pagoda by motorbike taxi or on foot. Each motorbike taxi ride costs 10,000 VND. Mr. Tran Quoc Trong, a tourist from Tuyen Quang province, said: “I have never seen a tourist destination with such cheap and low costs as here. The relic site does not collect any compulsory money. Visitors to the pagoda worship Buddha with their sincere hearts and wishes. Whoever spends money on oil lamps or donations to the pagoda, however much they want, are all recorded by the pagoda management board!”
According to Major Pham Chi Cong, Head of the Security Team, Thanh Liem District Police, to ensure order for tourists to visit and worship the temple safely and orderly, the police force closely coordinated with local authorities and the relic management board to organize traffic flow, set up security checkpoints on the roads leading to the temple to guide tourists, and promptly handle any arising situations. Since the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin until now, the number of tourists from everywhere coming to the temple has been very large. Especially on holidays, the number of visitors reaches tens of thousands of people per day.
Although the roads to the temple are not wide, visitors have to stop their vehicles far away, but traffic coordination is quite good. Thousands of motorbike taxi drivers are local people, or come from Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh provinces, ready to serve visitors at a reasonable price of 10,000 VND/trip from the car parking lot to the temple gate.
Mr. Trinh Quang Liem, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi shared: I think it is a very reasonable price. We passed by a newly planted rice field, starting to turn green, feeling like returning to childhood. We have been away for a long time, now we are old, far from home, so immersing ourselves in this space really feels like life is so peaceful!
In the area of Dia Tang Phi Lai pagoda, there are 15 security guards arranged at the entrance and exit points to guide visitors and remind people who come to the pagoda but do not keep order and make noise. However, as usual, visitors to the pagoda look at each other to behave towards their surroundings. There is no jostling or pushing. Everyone follows each other in order and is very satisfied.
On February 1st, the Year of the Dragon, the Lunar New Year has been gone for a month, but spring is still here, so beautiful pagodas such as Dia Tang Phi Lai, Cay Thi Pagoda, Phat Quang Pagoda, Ninh Tao Pagoda... in Thanh Liem are still attractive destinations for tourists. Mr. Le Van Phan, from Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province, and his family came to the pagoda this morning (February 1st) happily: "Coming here is called going to the pagoda! I just hope that the pagodas in our country will manage and organize activities like this so that people can express their hearts to the sacred, heaven and earth; to love their country and people more and unite with each other."
Dia Tang Pagoda is located on the deep green Khe Non mountain range - a small mountain range north of the Day River, popularly known as Dung Pagoda, in Ninh Trung village, Liem Son commune, Thanh Liem district.
According to legend, the pagoda dates back to the early 10th century, was the residence of King Tran Nghe Tong, and was the destination for King Tu Duc to pray for children. The name of the pagoda today was given by King Tu Duc with a profound meaning referring to the pagoda during the time of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.
According to the Ha Nam Provincial Museum, in the field, traces of the pagoda and towers of the past no longer exist. If anything, there are only physical traces, that is, relics that have been washed away by nature and floods into small streams over time, then accumulated in low-lying areas.
In 2015, Venerable Thich Minh Quang returned to take over the renovation and construction of the pagoda and changed its name to Dia Tang Phi Lai, which means this is the land where Bodhisattva Dia Tang (one of the Four Great Bodhisattvas: Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Manjushri, Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha of Southeast Asian Buddhism, uses his magical power and compassion to save those who fall into hell) often comes and is protected by him.
Jiangnan
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