The simple beauty of Linh Son pagoda in Da Lat city - Vietnam

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Recently, everything from work and life has gradually become more stable for me. I have adapted quite well to this new land, but I have not had much time to explore all the beautiful places or sights here. If you still remember my preference is the place of religious activities, where there are unique architectures and symbols of human beliefs there. The city of Da Lat in Vietnam was built and developed according to Western culture and Christian religion (the French colonial period). This time, however, I did not go to the churches, but to the Buddhist temples. This temple is quite famous by the senior monks and nuns of the Central and Southern Buddhist churches. There used to be monks and nuns who fought bravely for the cause of religion during the First Republic period (1954-1963).

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It is Linh Son pagoda in Da Lat city, Lam Dong province. Only about 800 meters from the city center with easy transportation. Located at 120 Nguyen Van Troi street on a low hill. Impressed with me very early right from the road before stepping through the entrance gate. It is a strip of stone embankment next to the main road of the pagoda with green mosses growing through each opening of the stones that help to connect them and bring a harmonious natural beauty. And it's also covered with colored paint drawings, I don't see what they're drawing but their color scheme is quite commendable.

Linh Son Pagoda was built in 1940, is a place of major religious activities in the central region of mountainous provinces in the northwest of Lam Dong province. This is also a place where monks and nuns and Buddhists from all over the world come to study thanks to famous and good Dharma monks and nuns. The temple grounds include many items that are widely arranged through different rows of houses, creating a large space for gardens and sub-religious works to worship Arhats and Bodhisattvas in the shrines below. big bodhi tree. I think that the main hall only worships the highest Buddha because I see that the main hall is not big and has only three rooms.

The main hall is not too fancy as I expected, a house roofed with red-fired tiles, supporting columns and wooden ceilings help create a cool atmosphere inside. The front of the main hall is also simple with few decorative motifs in front. The roof top is the dragon details winding above, creating a more solemn and sacred feeling. The front pillars are French lines in kanji which of course I don't understand but look like talismans protecting the saints inside either. Here also do not use smoke incense for tourists or Buddhists, they simply bow and pray. The questions the Fa needs to ask will be answered by the monks and nuns in the backyard. Inside is the only Buddha shrine, as I guessed, but bronze statues resembling persimmons next to the door can be seen thanks to the bronze color tarnishing over time.

I strolled through the beautiful corridors leading to other areas, I passed a small library room of the temple. In addition to the sutras, there are also a number of beautiful small multicolored marble statues and rings, here there is a very large relief including the largest statue depicting Buddha meditating under a tree. Bodhi before he entered Nirvana. Unfortunately it was quite dark and my phone failed to capture focus in that lighting condition. Unfortunately it does not have small tables and chairs in that room to be able to study all kinds of scriptures.

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Behind is a rather spacious backyard which has a stupa which I have seen in the distance looks very attractive. Passing through a small garden with many ornamental plants and cool, I stood watching and walking around the stone stupa. When I took a closer look, I realized it wasn't made of stone, just look at its intricate curving structures and details, it's hard to carve out the stone blocks. Consisting of 7 floors shrinking towards the top, it was probably built of bricks and filled with earth inside. I didn't see a single entrance on all four sides. Icons and mascots are depicted extremely eye-catching and attractive with a work that requires a lot of ingenuity in construction.

The outer courtyards are the residences of monks and nuns, as well as a place to worship the abbots of the previous temple, who had a voice in the Buddhist Church and made great contributions to the struggle and defense of the Buddhadharma. once banned and harassed. Inside there are only tablets and relics of them, their bodies are buried in the backyard gardens under the roofs of the courtyards. Although I am not a Buddhist, the sound of percussion (a hollowed-out wooden instrument that makes a sound when it is struck) gives listeners a sense of tranquility and peace in the campus each day. pagoda. The gardens, the sculptures, the patterns on the pillars, the ceiling, the roof edging all attract curiosity and admire new beauties for pagans like me. Come here and relax

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Thanks. See you again.

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