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Published: February 2nd 2010
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When I was traveling abroad, some people asked me "What is your religion?". My answer was "I am an atheist. I believe in myself". While other Vietnamese go to pagodas or temples for praying good luck in doing business, good health for their family or wishing to find a husband, I visit these places to see how old the buildings are, any special architecture, and to take photos. On a recent trip my Japanese boss smiled and said "I found that you love taking photos" and he pointed at the special roofing of a temple which I was photographing. Sometimes I lost sight of my friends, as they were busy pushing their way through the crowds in order to get to the main altars and do their rituals, while I was somewhere else and paid my attention to taking photos of various things.
Here is my simple definition for pagodas and temples. Pagodas are for worshiping Buddhism and monks lead their religious life there. Temples are for worshiping Gods or national heroes who have been honored as "Saints". In the villages, temples also play the role of communal houses where the general activities take place. As for the Temple of
Paper horses and elephants
Paper horses and elephants are sold at Kiếp Bạc temple. Later they will be burned after the rituals. Literature in Hanoi, which is nearly 1,000 years old, it is a representative of Confucian ways of thought and behavior.
Another festive season is coming soon, so it's time to live up again with the exciting atmosphere of the spring. Over the past two years I have been to many pagodas and temples in Hanoi and Bắc Ninh province, some of them are among the oldest pagodas in Vietnam. As you can see in these photos, there are many Vietnamese visiting pagodas and temples from January to March of the lunar calendar, it means right after celebration of our Lunar New Year. The Perfume Pagoda and Yên Tử mountain attract the most pilgrims. Much money is also donated to the pagodas and temples. Some people carry offerings such as boiled chicken, fruits etc., on their heads, using trays. It is fun to see these moving among the crowds. At one of the pagodas I saw a notice that meat is not allowed to be used as the offering. After the rituals, people can eat the things on the tray, but sometimes they give fruits to the monks. Various local products are sold as the offerings or souvenirs outside the
pagodas and temples. People also can buy letters from calligraphy artists and hang the posters up on the walls at home. Most of the time, they choose the word "Luck" in Chinese.
You may wonder why Vietnamese love to burn something. They believe there is an after-life world, it means when someone dies, they go to another world and there they also need money to spend, food to eat, motorbike/horse/elephant to ride, clothes to wear etc. That's why they print votive money in both USD and VND, make hats, clothes, horses, elephants etc., from paper, sell them on Hàng Mã street in Hanoi's Old Quarter. Street vendors also carry them with their baskets and sell to anyone who needs. People often burn these things on the 1st and the 15th day of every lunar month after the rituals (offerings put on the altar with incense sticks burning). During my childhood when Vietnam was very poor, I never saw anyone burning these things. Now that the economy is growing, there seem more people who believe in the mystic things. Others can do business and earn money from making votive stuff. Although this is the issue of beliefs and superstitions, I
Offerings at Kiếp Bạc temple
Everyone smiled when they saw these offerings. A well shaped boiled chicken is placed on sticky rice, along with apple, kumquat, votive money, incense sticks and two bottles of water. personally think that it's just a waste of paper.
When going further south, I found that pagodas and temples are not so old like the ones in the north. Their decoration is also more colorful. The biggest pagoda of Vietnam with huge bronze Buddha statues is located in Bái Đính pagoda in Ninh Bình province (110km south of Hanoi). You will see many Buddha statues throughout Vietnam.
My blogs about some pagodas and temples in northern Vietnam:
Bái Đính pagoda under construction (2008, 2009) and re-visited in 2015 Chùa Hương (the Perfume Pagoda) The Temple of Literature The festive season (Mùa lễ hội) Đền Hùng (the Temple of Kings Hùng) Some pagodas in Hà Tây province Một số các khái niệm chung Chùa (Pagoda) là nơi thờ Phật và cũng là nơi các nhà sư tu hành.
Đền (Temple) là nơi thờ thần thánh, đạo lão và các anh hùng dân tộc.
Văn chỉ (Temple) là khu đất tốt thờ Ðức Khổng Tử.
Ðình (Communal House) là nơi thờ Thành Hoàng làng. Phần lớn là người có công với nước hay là người truyền một nghề nào đó cho dân làng. Đây cũng là trung tâm sinh hoạt văn hoá gắn bó với một cộng đồng cư dân và mang đặc trưng văn minh lúa nước Việt Nam.
Theo
trang Việt Báo, đến thế kỷ 18, Việt Nam có khoảng 11.800 làng xã, mỗi làng có một cụm kiến trúc với tôn giáo đình đền chùa với hàng trăm pho tượng và những đồ thờ cúng trang trí khác nhau. Có thể nói thế kỷ 16 - 18 chứng kiến sự phát triển mạnh mẽ của đình làng với những tên đình danh tiếng như: Thổ Hà, Trùng Thượng, Trùng Hà, Tây Đằng, Chu Quyến, Hoàng Sơn... Nhưng do tàn phá của chiến tranh, điều kiện môi trường, thiên nhiên, mưa nắng mà bóng dáng của những ngôi đình cổ truyền thống dần dần mai một.
Xây dựng từ truyền thống kiến trúc châu Á, đình làng được dựng lên bằng những cột lim tròn, to và thẳng tắp. Kèo, xà ngang, xà dọc được làm bằng gỗ lim, tường xây bằng gạch nhưng cũng có khi không xây tường. Mái đình lợp ngói múi hài 4 góc có 4 đầu đao cong vút lên như đuôi chim phượng uốn cong. Sân đình lát gạch, trước đình có hai cột đồng trụ vút cao, trên đình có một con nghê lúc nào cũng nhe răng cười. Gian giữa
A calligraphy artist at Và temple
Young people are standing around a calligraphy artist and waiting for their posters with Chinese letters. Later they will hang them up at home. có hương án thờ vị thần của làng. Chiếc trống cái được đặt trong đình để vang lên theo nhịp trống ngũ liên thúc giục người dân về đình tụ tập để bàn tính công việc của làng, của nước.
Ngôi đình Việt Nam cổ kính thường cao ráo, thoáng mát, nóc có tượng đôi rồng lượn tranh lấy quả châu, trên các thanh xà ngang là những bức hoành phi câu đối. Nơi thiêng liêng nhất để thờ thần là điện thờ. Thời xưa, đình làng là trụ sở hành chính của chính quyền tựu trung đủ mọi lề thói từ rước xách hội hè, khao vọng quan trên, đón người đỗ đạt, họp việc làng, xử kiện cùng những quy củ nhất định, có sự phân biệt chiếu trên, chiếu dưới. Khi đi ăn cỗ, bậc hương lão, hương lý ngồi giữa đình, thấp hơn ngồi hai bên, dân thường ngồi ngoài sân.
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Rob_n_Lorenza
Rob & Lorenza B
When in Vietnam Lorenza and I found the tradition of burning offerings like votive money, etc very curious. We noticed that some people also burnt offerings such as fake mobile phones. Lorenza cheekily asked if the people ever thought to burn an instruction book for the mobile phone so the people on the other side were able to learn how to use it. We also found it interesting that people could make a good living selling votive items. We even lent some money via a micro credit loan to a women in Vietnam who was raising funds to start such a business. The business was profitable for her and she repaid the money very quickly. I was surprised that people would buy fake US dollars and it does seem a waste.