LookAtVietnam – Buddhism has been followed in Viet Nam for nearly 2,000 years and during the Ly and Tran dynasties it was considered the national religion.

Eternal flame: A visitor takes a look at the mysterious candles at Buu Son Pagoda.

As a result, many cultural and architectural heritage sites relating to Buddhism hold records in Viet Nam. People would struggle to locate giant candles like those at the Buu Son Pagoda in Soc Trang city in the southern province of Soc Trang elsewhere.

The pagoda’s founder, Ngo Kim Tong (1909-70), made eight colossal candles weighing a total of 1.4 tonnes.

Pagoda survived

When he died, his family lit two of the smaller candles, which stood 2m tall. The candles have burned since as the pagoda survived weather extremes and war. When the pagoda roof was blown off during a storm, the candles continued to flicker.

Many archaeologists inspect the candles but can’t explain how Tong, who was poor and uneducated, made the amazing candles.

The candles have about 30cm to burn down and researchers estimate they will glow for another five years.

In accordance with Tong’s will, four 2.6m candles will be lit when the small candles burn out. If all the candles were burned one by one, it’s estimated they would light the pagoda for about 600 years.

Four candles stand imposingly as the pagoda’s pillars. Visitors would not realise they are candles until told by the pagoda’s 90-year-old keeper and Tong’s youngest brother, Ngo Kim Giang.

The candles were decorated with white lotus and have large dragons wound around them. Each was supported by a white tiger and a green kylin. All decorative objects were made from clay.

Tong became a monk at age 20 and spent the rest of the his life creating 1,991 statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva and Arhat by hand. They are of different sizes and identities.

The Centre for Viet Nam Record Books has nominated the pagoda and giant candles Vietnamese records.

The Record Books have recognised a 2.32m statue of Bodhi Dharma at Tay Tang Pagoda, in the southern province of Binh Duong, as the largest statue made from Buddhists’ hair, shaved from their heads when they become monks.

Apart from hair, the statue is covered by mortar and covered with red lacquer.

The lively statue describes the journey of the legendary Buddha, Bodhi Dharma, on his way from India to China to become the main god at the Shaolin Pagoda.

He carries a bag of heaven and earth on the end of one shoulder pole and a Buddhist text in the other. He also brings a leaf conical hat, a typical feature of Viet Nam.

The statue was made by Buddhist Nguyen Khac Buu, Nguyen Chi Co and Ton Ngoc An from 1982-83.

Merry gates

The Giac Vien Pagoda on Lac Long Quan street in HCM City has the largest recorded bao lam (vaulted door paintings in fresco) named Hundreds of Birds. Among 58 bao lam at the pagoda, Hundreds of Birds is considered the most beautiful and largest. It stands 2.48m and is 2.25m wide.

Artists skilfully and precisely sculpted 100 different birds on the gate. Beside familiar birds at pagodas and temples, such as phoenix, crane, and peacocks, others from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are also featured, including a storks, sparrows, swallows, nightingales, magpie-robins, kingfishers, red-whiskered bulbuls and teals.

The birds are engaged in different activities such as flying, perching, finding cooking, playing and courting.

The door is considered a fine example of the talents and skills of the artists and their love for animals and nature.

Smaller bao lam have 18 Arhats on a background of clouds. They are sitting on the backs of a tiger, panther, stag, bull, goat, deer, pig, cat, dog, dragon and kylin. The Arhats are sculpted doing different activities, including scratching their ears and laughing. The Arhats hold symbolic objects such as a pestle, mandarin’s tablet, vong kim co (a head ring to control someone’s power) and a fruit basket.

The gate expresses optimism, cheer and prosperity of the people. Animals, manners and attitude of Arhats are designed to indicate friendliness and simplicity, typical characteristics of southern people.

Beside worshipping Arhats, southern artists use them as decorations - a unique feature of southern culture.

Beside bao lam, the pagoda is home to 153 statues and 60 sculpted objects.

The influence of Buddhism, in comparison with other religions in Viet Nam, is expressed predominantly through architecture, paintings and sculptures, which are often inspired by key values of Buddhism, purity and compassion.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News