About 50 km north of Hanoi, Vinh Nghiem pagoda in Tri Yen commune, Yen Dung district is a must-visit for Buddhist followers as well as tourists.
Visitors will be impressed by its massive scale and Buddha statues with exquisite sculptural and historical values. Moreover, Vinh Nghiem Pagoda holds more than 3,000 rare and precious woodblocks which have been recognised by UNESCO as documentary heritage items in the Asia-Pacific Region’s Memory of the World Program.
Vinh Nghiem Pagoda was built during the Ly dynasty under the reign of King Ly Thai To (1009 – 1028).
It was recognised as a national historical – cultural relic site in 1964 and a special national relic site in 2015.
One of the places that tourists cannot miss is an archive and exhibit house for the woodblocks.
The wood-blocks not only feature the deep thoughts and values of the Truc Lam Sect, but also serve as remarkable calligraphy and artistic items and mark the development stages of the Nom script through different periods of time.
The northern province of Bac Giang is forming a master plan for the preservation and promotion of the values of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, a special national relic site.
The plan aims to turn Vinh Nghiem Pagoda into a cultural and religious centre of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist sect.
It is also set to connect Vinh Nghiem Pagoda with other historical and cultural relic sites and scenic landscapes in Bac Giang province, especially the Yen Tu relic complex, to create a diverse cultural tourism product.
It is expected that the plan will contribute to the local tourism industry’s target of welcoming 2.5 million tourists by 2025./.
