A project to restore the ancient Tram Gian (hundred compartment) Pagoda in Hanoi’s Chuong My district was completed after two years of construction, the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on November 18.

Under the 14.6 billion VND (674,346 USD) project, almost all works in the pagoda were restored in line with their original structure and architecture.

During the restoration process, a number of workshops were held among designers, constructors, scientists, pagoda representatives and local authorities to seek the best solutions to the pagoda.

Tram Gian Pagoda, founded in 1185 during the reign of King Ly Cao Tong, is also known as Quang Nghiem, Tien Lu or Nui.

It includes the Gia Ngu house which overlooks a lotus pond and is used to accommodate the saintly palanquin from which the water puppet performance is viewed. Its second structure comprises blue marble steps and a two-storey bell-tower, built in 1693.

The tower, known as the oldest in Vietnam , includes eight elegantly curved corner roofs and banisters on four sides competed with cloud and floral motives. Its columns are carved with intricate lotus shapes as well as wood panels in the shapes of dragons, flowers, leaves, clouds and the sky. Below the roof hangs a copper bell cast in 1794, which is 1.4m in height and 0.6m in diameter.

The pagoda preserves a collection of 153 Buddha statues, mostly of wood except for some made of terra cotta and ceramics. The most precious among them are the Tuyet Son Buddha, carved out of black jack-tree wood, and the statue of Admiral Dang Tien Dong, a military mandarin of the Tay Son insurgent troop, who contributed to the renovation of the pagoda after his victory against Qing in 1789.-VNA