The Cuu Pham Lien Hoa Tower in the grounds of Co Le Pagoda (Co Le Commune, Ninh Binh Province) was built in 1927. It was designed in the style of 9 lotus floors, 32m high, with 8 sides, and the entire tower is placed on the back of a giant turtle.
The nine-story lotus tower, located on the back of a giant turtle
Co Le Pagoda was originally built during the reign of Ly Than Tong (1116- 1138), founded by monk Nguyen Minh Khong to worship Buddha. The first wooden pagoda followed the ancient architectural style. However, this original pagoda was ruined. In 1902, monk Pham Quang Tuyen came to preside over the pagoda and designed and rebuilt it in the Gothic style, similar to the Catholic churches that are common in the neighboring area.
To create a highlight on the Co Le Pagoda campus, in 1927, monk Pham Quang Tuyen designed and built the Cuu Pham Lien Hoa (Nine-Piece Lotus) Tower, a multi-story structure that rises into the sky, demonstrating the strength of the religion and reflecting Buddhist architectural characteristics.
The tower is designed in the style of 9 lotus floors, 32m high, with 8 sides; the entire tower lies on the back of a giant turtle. The turtle’s figure is very lively and strong, measuring 18m long and 10m wide. The turtle’s shell is stylized and curved into 8 large segments, each segment is 4.65m long. The turtle’s four legs stretch out firmly into the lake, the head facing inside the pagoda, the tail facing outside.
In particular, the 4 corners of the lake feature 4 small, tower-shaped mountains resembling Cham towers; each tower has an elephant leaning against it.
The body of the Cuu Pham Lien Hoa Tower is decorated with many animals and verses. Local people have passed down the story that the tower’s construction was very elaborate. To build the tower on a lake, the temple had to reinforce the foundation with 50 large ironwood trees, thanks to which the tower has stood firm to this day.
According to the design, inside the tower there is a round, cylindrical central column and a spiral staircase leading to the top, where a Buddha altar with 64 steps stands.
In addition, the Cuu Pham Lien Hoa Tower is also decorated with unicorns, phoenixes, and 6 pairs of dragons clinging to the body of the tower, each pair playing with each other, the front one looking down, the bottom one looking up. That is why it adds to the tower’s grandeur.
Currently, the entrance to the Cuu Pham Lien Hoa Tower is always in a state of “closed door, locked”. The door is opened only when the temple holds a big festival, which takes place in the 9th lunar month.
During the festival, visitors can climb to the highest floor inside the tower and look through the ventilation window to see the four directions and the whole temple from above.
Source: collected by An
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