Tran-Quoc Pagoda, Hanoi, Vietnam

The post on the last leg of our Vietnam Itinerary took longer than usual to take off.   Reasons not worth recording on the blog, (sheer laziness for example), I would now not go into them.

I know never late is better, but I think it is better late than never.   So here we go..

Last day at the hotel, Smiles wont betray us, but our eyes will

Happiness does lie in waking up each day and believing, as though it is the first day of our trip, but its difficult on the last day. We know our wonderful trip is coming to an end, the babes will go our own ways after this and though we knew we were coming to the tail end of our trip, our only reason to smile was the memories we were creating. The silent good byes to our hotel rooms and warm ones to our chefs and the people in hotel are done in the morning.  Lan, our guide was on time and we started pretty early on the last day too.

Live birds and  turtles on sale @ the pavement

Never to forget to put on our brightest smile along with our basic make-up, our first stop for the day was the historic Tran-Quoc pagoda and it opens as early as 7.30 am. One of the most interesting stuff I saw on the entrance of this pagoda was the sale of turtles, live ones, tiny and large too – never have seen them before.  Looks like that is legal in Vietnam.

The 15 metre main stupa of  Tran-Quoc Pagoda

Tran-Quoc Pagoda is the oldest of its kind in Hanoi, dating back to the 6^th century ( that’s around 1500 years) and this Buddhist shrine has undergone several changes throughout the years. Standing at 15 meters, the main stupa is made of up eleven levels, with gemstone statues of Amitabha within each open vaulted windows. It also has surrounding buildings that include an incense burning house and a museum housing historic relics. 

The intricately carved statues there date back to 15th century and they all bear unique facial features.  One of the main attractions here is also the gold sculpture of the Shakyamuni Buddha's Parinirvana. Also, this pagoda is filled with Buddhist symbolisms like the eight-spoked wheel, that represents the Noble Eight-fold Path.

Lan was also a great photographer - the babes posing with Tran-Quoc in the background

Tran-Quoc, its reflection  & me

Monks have lived at the Tran-Quoc Pagoda for centuries, teaching the ways of Buddhism to the public. The main pagoda itself is surrounded by 9 other smaller varying sizes of pagodas that are in reverence to some of the Buddhist monks and carries their ashes, and the taller the pagoda, higher was their level in the monastery.   Thanks to Lan’s knowledge on these, I still remember these little details she shared with us.

Notice the lady Buddha statue on top, tiny though

In the Tran Quoc pagoda they also worship female Buddhas, known as the "Mothers". Their shrines are in the front of the courtyard. The green Mother has domain over the mountains and forests. The white Mother has domain over the water. And lastly the red Mother has domain over the sky. These are some of the oldest gods or goddesses that have been worshiped in Vietnam and were in Vietnam before the Buddha.  For all of us, this was again our “firsts” – a lady Buddha.

The focus is on the Bodhi tree, taken from the original tree in Bodh Gaya

On the grounds of Tran Quoc is a Bodhi tree ( which is pretty large ) taken as cutting of the original tree in Bodh Gaya, India under which the Buddha sat and achieved enlightenment. The gift was made in 1959, marking the visit of the Indian president Rajendra Prasad.

In the incense burning house of Tran-Quoc

With some pretty women travellers from Hongkong 

The lush greenery, the west lake surrounding the pagoda and the architecture of the pagoda all are in harmony here and makes it look quite picturesque, bringing in peace and serenity than an oriental religious place would bring on.

One last picture with the Westlake and Skyline of Hanoi