Interestingly, the statue of Buddha sitting on the king’s back is “unique” in Vietnam.

Hoe Nhai Pagoda, whose name is Hong Phuc Tu, is located at 19 Hang Than Street, Nguyen Trung Truc Quarter, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

This is one of the great ancient temples in the ancient capital Thang Long. The pagoda was built during the Ly dynasty (1010-1225). The project is located in an area of ​​3,000m2 in accordance with the foreign internal architecture, the green space of the temple with shady trees.

At Hoe Nhai Pagoda, there is a Buddha statue that is considered “unique” in Vietnam. It is a statue of Buddha sitting on the back of a lying king. The statue is also known as the King of Confession.

At first glance, it looked like a monolithic statue of Buddha, but in fact folk craftsmen skillfully combined two separate parts into one block.

In general, the statue of Buddha sitting on the king’s back is more than 3m high. The base shows a king kneeling and prostrate, carrying a statue of Buddha on his back, hand seal, compassionate and free face.

The image of the Buddha sitting on the back of a person who was never a king seemed to go against Buddhist teachings, breaking the traditional conformation structure inherent in the art of carving Buddha statues (usually sitting on the lotus).

According to researchers, the origin of the statue dates back to the reign of King Le Hy Tong (1663-1716), the 10th king of the Le Trung Hung dynasty.

In 1678, the king issued a decree to expel all monks and nuns into the forest, those who stubbornly did not leave the capital would be locked up in crime and massacred, causing Buddhism in this period to fall into tragedy.

The Zen master Chan Dung Tong Dien, the second patriarch of the Vietnamese Tao Dong sect, presented him with a box that said it was a jewel, but in reality, inside there was a sheet of paper that recorded the benefits for society. Buddhism brings.

The content inside is mainly about “Kings Ly and Tran, due to their greater importance to Buddhism, the nation prospered, making people know how to eat properly, without anger, so as not to kill people and thieves. A national gem “.

Legend has it that after reading it, the king suddenly woke up, immediately invited the monk to court to bow and apologize, and revoke the decree against Buddhism.

King Le Hy Tong promised Zen Master Tong Dien that he would repair himself and have him carve a statue of Buddha sitting on the king’s back placed in the Hoe Nhai Pagoda.

This is a unique statue in Buddhist sculptures.

In 2006, on the occasion of UNESCO’s recognition of Buddha’s birthday as a world religious festival, many unique Buddhist cultural works in Asia were mentioned, including the unique statue of the King of Confession in Vietnam. The king’s confession is also recorded in the Guinness Book of International Records in the field of Buddhism.

Six layers of Buddha statues in the main hall of Hoe Nhai Pagoda. Outside there is also a statue of the protector, Ngoc Hoang and Nam Tao, Bac Dau … as is often seen in Vietnamese temples.

The Buddha statue system here is recognized by archaeologists as diverse in materials such as precious wood, clay, and copper.

Besides the famous double statue, the pagoda also preserves many other unique ancient statues, such as the newborn statue of Thich Ca, the oldest triangular pharmaceutical statue in Vietnam, Hoa Nghiem tam Thanh …

The temple courtyard has three three-story towers, the new An Quang tower was built in 1963 to commemorate the day Venerable Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire to protest against the persecution of Buddhism by the Ngo Dinh Diem regime.

In the temple there are 28 epitaphs, the oldest dating from 1703.

The contents of the stele mention the location of the Hoe Nhai Pagoda the day before, which helped archaeologists determine the site of the Tran dynasty’s victory over the Nguyen army, liberating the capital.

Toan Vu