Thich Tu Nghiem, a Buddhist monk at Pho Da Pagoda in the central city ofDa Nang, has collected over 200 religious statues on his travels aroundthe region.
Over the past 10 years, the collection hasoutgrown the 20sq.m room at the pagoda, which is filled to the brim withancient works such as a 700-year-old copper casting of the Goddess ofMercy and a colossal sandstone statue from the 11th-century ChampaKingdom, where it originally guarded a temple.
"I try to pickup Buddha statues whenever I go for religious indoctrinations or studyabroad. Because monks worship Buddha, searching for these statues is myway of paying respect to the deity," Nghiem said.
For the55-year-old monk, the search has also been a personal journey. Eachstatue in the collection conjures up a specific memory.
Borninto a family of six in the central city, Nghiem felt from a young agethat he was fated to live a religious life. At the age of 12, inspiredby a monk praying at his father's funeral service, he left his home tobegin a new life at Pho Da Pagoda.
As a child, he collectedBuddhist stamps. However, he later recognised the "beauty" of Buddhastatues, and in the early 2000s he decided to embark on an ambitioussearch.
The first statue he found, while studying in Ho Chi Minh City, was the copper Goddess of Mercy.
"I had a dream of a Buddha statue, and I followed the dream to findthis one in a house of a local man. He donated the statue to me becausehe thought it would be suitable for it to be placed at a pagoda," hesaid.
Since copper has a high melting point – around 1,000degrees Celsius – sculptors typically use brass instead, so thelotus-flower emblazoned statue represents a rare work.
"Time has turned it black, but I want to keep it in the condition in which I found it," Nghiem said.
He pointed out a white glazed terra-cotta Buddha statue and explainedit was discovered in the wreckage of a sunken merchant ship. He hadgotten it from an antiques collector in HCM City, believing it mightdate from the age of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty in China.
A statue of ascetic Arhat, made from a Tibetan ox's horn over a century ago, is another highlight of the collection.
"The Arhat statue is a real work of art," said Nguyen Van Ba, anantiquities collector in Da Nang. "It has far more detail than theordinary statues of Arhat in pagodas. The dark brown colour of the ox'shorn makes it a real beauty."
The collector was also quiteimpressed with the "huge variety" of statues, which includes 40 statuesof the Goddess of Mercy alone, made of wood, silver, brass, copper andterra-cotta. The material for one statue - a Buddha head made from ablock of metal - cannot even be identified.
"It's a mysterious statue," the monk said. "I would guess black brass, but I'm not sure."
The monk said he planned to open a gallery at the pagoda this year sovisitors could see the collection. But he played down his role inbringing together the exhibition.
"The collection is a precioustreasure; I'm just preserving it for the next generation," he said."The statues may be expensive, but the history of each statue ispriceless. I hope the collection will help younger generations explorethe centuries-old culture and history of Buddhism." -V
Over the past 10 years, the collection hasoutgrown the 20sq.m room at the pagoda, which is filled to the brim withancient works such as a 700-year-old copper casting of the Goddess ofMercy and a colossal sandstone statue from the 11th-century ChampaKingdom, where it originally guarded a temple.
"I try to pickup Buddha statues whenever I go for religious indoctrinations or studyabroad. Because monks worship Buddha, searching for these statues is myway of paying respect to the deity," Nghiem said.
For the55-year-old monk, the search has also been a personal journey. Eachstatue in the collection conjures up a specific memory.
Borninto a family of six in the central city, Nghiem felt from a young agethat he was fated to live a religious life. At the age of 12, inspiredby a monk praying at his father's funeral service, he left his home tobegin a new life at Pho Da Pagoda.
As a child, he collectedBuddhist stamps. However, he later recognised the "beauty" of Buddhastatues, and in the early 2000s he decided to embark on an ambitioussearch.
The first statue he found, while studying in Ho Chi Minh City, was the copper Goddess of Mercy.
"I had a dream of a Buddha statue, and I followed the dream to findthis one in a house of a local man. He donated the statue to me becausehe thought it would be suitable for it to be placed at a pagoda," hesaid.
Since copper has a high melting point – around 1,000degrees Celsius – sculptors typically use brass instead, so thelotus-flower emblazoned statue represents a rare work.
"Time has turned it black, but I want to keep it in the condition in which I found it," Nghiem said.
He pointed out a white glazed terra-cotta Buddha statue and explainedit was discovered in the wreckage of a sunken merchant ship. He hadgotten it from an antiques collector in HCM City, believing it mightdate from the age of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty in China.
A statue of ascetic Arhat, made from a Tibetan ox's horn over a century ago, is another highlight of the collection.
"The Arhat statue is a real work of art," said Nguyen Van Ba, anantiquities collector in Da Nang. "It has far more detail than theordinary statues of Arhat in pagodas. The dark brown colour of the ox'shorn makes it a real beauty."
The collector was also quiteimpressed with the "huge variety" of statues, which includes 40 statuesof the Goddess of Mercy alone, made of wood, silver, brass, copper andterra-cotta. The material for one statue - a Buddha head made from ablock of metal - cannot even be identified.
"It's a mysterious statue," the monk said. "I would guess black brass, but I'm not sure."
The monk said he planned to open a gallery at the pagoda this year sovisitors could see the collection. But he played down his role inbringing together the exhibition.
"The collection is a precioustreasure; I'm just preserving it for the next generation," he said."The statues may be expensive, but the history of each statue ispriceless. I hope the collection will help younger generations explorethe centuries-old culture and history of Buddhism." -V
