Dai Tue Pagoda (Nam Anh commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An province) is located on the highest peak of Dai Hue mountain range with an altitude of nearly 500 meters above sea level.
Dai Tue pagoda is said to date from the time when King Mai Hac De defeated the Tang invaders (627 AD). By the 15th century, this pagoda was rebuilt by Ho Quy Ly to worship Buddha Dai Tue - the person who helped him build Dai Hue citadel as a base to fight against the Ming invaders.
After all the winds and storms over time, Dai Tue Pagoda only managed to keep 3 mossy walls and a thatched roof left. With its significant cultural, historical and spiritual meaning, on April 16, 2011, the reconstruction of Dai Tue Pagoda officially began.
The pagoda is located on an area of 20 hectare, the premise stretching from the foot of the mountain to the peak. During the restoration process, the Buddhists studied and rebuilt the Prajnaparamita Buddha statue, cast in red bronze with the height of 2.3 meters and the weight of over 1.1 tons.
The most special feature of the pagoda is that the whole system of statues on the great tower of the Upper pagoda is made entirely of fine jewels. Statues in the Great Palace as well as the altars of the Founders and Five Kings are also made from valuable whole mahogany wood.
After its renovation, the pagoda has been recognized with four national records: the pagoda on the mountain with the largest artificial lake; the pagoda with the most ruby statues; the pagoda with the most whole mahogany wood statues system and the most Vietnamese calligraphy couplet system in Vietnam.
Dai Tue Pagoda is well-known by the local people as a place for the practice of their religion and belief, as well as for regular cultural and spiritual activities of the community. The pagoda is also one of the most beautiful cultural and historical landscapes of the North Central Coast of Vietnam./.
