Located on Tay Phuong Mountain, Yen Village, Thach Xa Commune, Thach That District, Hanoi City, Tay Phuong Pagoda carries with it significant values as a unique architectural structure with numerous priceless sculptures.
From the foot of the mountain to the gate of the main pagoda, there are 239 steps made of laterite stone. The roof of the pagoda is decorated with exquisite embossed flowers, dragons and phoenixes.
Its walls are made of Bat Trang naked red baked bricks, its wooden pillars secured in large green boulders shaped as lotus petals. In the pagoda, there are 64 statues with many reliefs placed in various spots.
The statues are carved from jackfruit wood, painted in the traditional Vietnamese style with red or black base and gold details. Most of these statues are considered to date from the late 18th century while some others were carved in the middle of the 19th century.
The highlight of the pagoda is the 16 life-sized statues of arhats in several poses. Each of them wears a specific expression to signify a range of emotions, making different gestures to indicate different personalities in a vivid, realistic manner, which is extremely rare in ancient sculpture./.
