BAI DINH PAGODA
Inaugurated in 2010 during Hanoi's millennium celebrations, this pagoda was built to be the largest in Southeast Asia.
The Bai Dinh pagoda or the pagoda of superlatives. Inaugurated in 2010, on the occasion of Hanoi's millennium celebrations, it was built to be the largest pagoda in Southeast Asia. Construction began in 2004 and was not fully completed until 2015. The pagoda, in fact a complex of several buildings, houses a gigantic Buddha statue 16 m high and weighing 100 t, cast in bronze imported from Russia. The Buddhas of the Present, Past and Future, in Tam The, reach a height of 12 meters. A 36-tonne bell resounds to the farthest reaches of the country. Along a corridor of almost 2 km (The Han), 500 white stone statues of Arhats of Ninh Binh, 2 to 2.5 m high, will observe the spectacle of the pilgrims - for centuries to come? Who said religion was the opium of the people? The architecture of the Bai Dinh pagoda - its disproportionate Buddhist proportions, so far removed from the charm of traditional Vietnamese pagodas - has been the subject of much criticism among the Vietnamese population. The provincial and national authorities expect the site to become an influential site of Buddhism in South-East Asia. The commercial excesses linked to the "dysneylandisation" of the site and its exploitation (electric cars, lifts...) based on a philosophy that is much more capitalist than meditative do not argue in favour of the visit. The festival of the pagoda is celebrated every year from the 6th day of the 1st lunar month to the end of the 3rd lunar month.
Did you know? This review was written by our professional authors.
Book the Best Activities with Get Your Guide
Members' reviews on BAI DINH PAGODA
The ratings and reviews below reflect the subjective opinions of members and not the opinion of The Little Witty.
L'accès se fait par un petit train électrique pour une somme dérisoire... depuis la gare de départ pleins d’échoppes pour acheter moult souvenirs made in China ou se rafraichir....car il fait chaud ici.Il faut minimum 1/2 journée pour découvrir les divers temples ou la pagode tout en haut du site...même si c'est moderne le site reste tout de même grandiose.