Bac Giang: Exhibition shows rich relic system of Tay Yen Tu

Artifacts displayed at the exhibition (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Nearly 500 artifacts and images of ancient pagodas and towers are on display at an exhibition that recently opened in the Tay Yen Tu spiritual and ecological tourism complex in the northern province of Bac Giang. The exhibition also includes images about the process of archaeological excavation at relics, vestiges of ancient religious works associated with Truc Lam Zen Buddhist sect in Tay Yen Tu (West Yen Tu).

The exhibition, themed "The sacred Buddhist land of Tay Yen Tu - A thousand-year-old relic from the ground," was held by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as part of activities within the Bac Giang Culture-Tourism Week 2023.

The artifacts and images on display at the exhibition feature pagodas and towers built from the Ly – Tran Dynasties (11th-14th century), the Le Trung Hung (Revival Le) Dynasty (the 17th-18th century) and the Nguyen Dynasty (19th century) in five districts of Yen Dung, Luc Nam, Luc Ngan, Viet Yen and Yen The.

Visitors at the exhibition (Photo: VNA)

The organisers also introduced the detail of pagodas, relic sites and images on the process of archaeological excavation at relics, vestiges of ancient religious works associated with Truc Lam Zen Buddhist sect in Tay Yen Tu. The exhibit reveals the size and scale of a Buddhist religion that thrived from the 11th to 14th century in the Tay Yen Tu area.

The event aims to introduce the values of typical and unique cultural heritage of Bac Giang, and promote the province’s potential in tourism development. It should serve to help in building and developing the locality’s tourism trademark, contributing to boost the growth of the local tourism sector as well as the socio-economic integration and expansion.

Vice Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Si Cam said that Tay Yen Tu is an area on the west of Dong Trieu bow, in the territory of Bac Giang province. Since ancient times, Yen Tu was chosen by Kings of the Ly - Tran Dynasties as the place to build pagodas. In the Tay Yen Tu area, a system of monuments and landscapes is still preserved with rich and diverse types. This system of relics spans over the area of four districts of Yen Dung, Luc Nam, Luc Ngan and Son Dong, including religious and belief works associated with the history of nation building and defence in different periods from the Ly - Tran Dynasties (11th-14th centuries) to Le - Nguyen Dynasties (17th-19th centuries).

Particularly, the western side of Yen Tu of Bac Giang province in the Tran Dynasty is also home to a series of relics closely related to the formation and flourishing of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect. These were founded by the leaders of Truc Lam Zen Buddhist sect such as Vinh Nghiem, Am Vai, and Ho Thien pagodas. However, over time and under the destruction of war, some ancient pagodas have been damaged.

Cam said that over the years, his department has coordinated with the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology and the Vietnam Archaeological Association to conduct excavations and has collected many artifacts detailing the history, scale and structure of religious relics built in the Ly-Tran Dynasties in Bac Giang.

This is also part of efforts to restore the pagodas and revive the religious space of Bac Giang, while providing scientific evidence for the building of dossiers to seek UNESCO’s recognition for the Yen Tu Monuments and Landscapes Complex in three provinces of Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, and Bac Giang collectively as a world cultural heritage./.