Watch Son Dong village artisans make wooden statues

When mentioning Son Dong handicraft village (Son Dong commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi city), not only the people of the capital but also people of many provinces and cities in the country know this ancient village with the traditional profession of casting, carving statues, and famous worship objects.

Son Dong craft village currently has thousands of skilled workers and many talented artisans, not to mention many sculptors from other places. This place is considered the capital of making worship objects, Buddha statues or handicraft carvings.

Through the talented hands of craftsmen, many large and small statues have been formed, containing the thoughts, feelings and respect of the people.

Having been in the profession for nearly 40 years, artisan Nguyen Tri Dung, 56 years old, said that the most difficult thing about making a Buddha statue is that the craftsman must breathe life into the statue, it must have spirit and form... In addition, they must understand the deep origin of each product, the spiritual qualities of the Buddha and Saint. They also have to learn from the virtues of the Buddhas and Saints to elevate their souls, have spiritual awareness to improve their skills, and increase the value of the product.

According to Mr. Dung, it takes about a month to complete a statue. His facility mainly receives orders from temples and pagodas across the country, then produces them according to the customer's requested size. Depending on the size, material, and complexity, the price of the ordered statues will vary.

"In addition to making statues, Mr. Dung's facility also makes altars, altar decorations, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, and votive doors...", Mr. Dung said.

Coming to Son Dong village, we hear the pleasant sound of chiseling and the fragrant smell of precious wood. Everywhere we see statues such as: Buddha Shakyamuni, Buddha Amitabha, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Saint Tran, statues of Good and Evil, Arhat statues... and countless other types of handicraft worship items.

Artisan Nguyen Tri Dung is meticulously shaping and completing the final stages of a statue.

Although only 29 years old, Nguyen Trung Phong, from Ha Nam, has been making wooden statues for ten years. Having opened his own workshop in his hometown, when there was a lot of work, the owners of the establishments in Son Dong village called him to work on a contract basis.

The craftsman's toolkit.

Sang is 23 years old, from a neighboring village, and has been studying and working in Son Dong for 4 years now.

Coming to Son Dong village, it is not difficult to see large trees used to make statues and spiritual worship items. It is known that the type of wood used to make statues is mainly jackfruit wood, according to folk beliefs, this is a sacred wood, very suitable for making all kinds of worship items. In addition, this type of wood has the characteristics of bright yellow color, very high durability, flexible, soft, dense grain, less cracking, easy to carve.

The statues are shaped and the wood is left to dry before being painted.

Coming to Son Dong, customers need to order any worship statue, the craftsmen here can do it right away without needing a sample (available sample).

Son Dong craft village is now not only a simple craft village but has become an attractive tourist destination for domestic and foreign tourists, the craft village has become a cultural beauty of the capital. In 2007, the Vietnam Book of Records recognized Son Dong as "The largest craft village of carving Buddhist statues and worship objects in Vietnam". Currently, the products of Son Dong craft village not only serve the spiritual and cultural life of the country but are also exported abroad.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/xem-nghe-nhan-lang-son-dong-lam-tuong-go-10280369.html