Pho Minh Tower is one of the oldest structures in Vietnam,. Despite going through countless ups and downs in history, Pho Minh Tower has surprisingly stood steady on sunken land for over seven centuries. If you have the opportunity to explore Nam Dinh, don’t miss out on admiring this unique tower.
Where is Pho Minh Tower?
Pho Minh Tower was built within the grounds of Pho Minh Pagoda located in Tuc Mac village, Loc Vuong ward, Nam Dinh city. According to historical records, in 1305, Emperor Tran Nhan Tong passed away at Ngoa Van hermitage on Tu Phong – Yen Tu mountain. After that, his son, Emperors Tran Anh Tong placed 7 out of 21 relics on a stone palanquin and then built Pho Minh Tower on top.
In 2012, Pho Minh Pagoda was ranked as a special National Monument. Currently, this is an attractive tourist destination in Nam Dinh, because the tower is located near the famous Tran Royal Temple relic site, with a large yard and lush old trees.
Impressive original artistic style of the Tran Dynasty
The most notable highlight in the yard of Pho Minh Pagoda is Pho Minh Tower and 2 stone steles. Of which, Pho Minh Tower is located in the middle of the pagoda yard, in front of the temple’s front hall; the other 2 stone steles are located on both sides of the tower, about 4m apart.
The stone stele on the right is Pho Minh Zen Temple stele engraved in 1668, talking about the construction and restoration of the pagoda. The stone stele on the left is engraved in 1916, talking about Pho Minh Tower. Both stone steles are placed on the back of a stone turtle.
According to historical records, Pho Minh Tower was built in 1308 in the traditional style popular during the Tran Dynasty with a square shape; consisting of 14 floors; 19.5m high. Each floor has 4 arched doors, between the floors is the roof ridge.
Pho Minh Tower consists of 3 main components: the pedestal, the body and the top. In which, the pedestal of Pho Minh tower is made entirely of stone, the stone blocks have many different sizes, are carved with lotus petal patterns, water wave patterns and the entire pedestal bears the image of a palanquin.
The body of the tower has 14 floors, the floors of the tower have a common appearance, but some details are different. The first leval is built entirely of green stone, from the second level up are built with bricks, plastered tightly. Each end of the brick has an inscription and depicts a dragon in relief from the Tran Dynasty.
The top of the tower is a block of stone shaped like a lotus flower, including many different layers such as: the top of the lotus bud is thick and tapered, including 5 layers of lotus petals facing up and closing; in which the last layer has a double border and a raised ridge in the middle. The entire lotus bud is placed on a block of terracotta, tapered and bulging with two red layers.
The tower is surrounded by walls, at the pillars there are lanterns. In the middle of the walls are 4 entrances to the tower, in front there are pairs of stone dragons.
At the foot of Pho Minh tower are two large incense sticks (also known as sutra pillars) made of stone, crafted in the 17th century. In front of the two large sutra pillars are two smaller sutra pillars, exquisitely crafted in the shape of lotus flowers; on top are carved lotus petals, inside is an image of Buddha sitting on a lotus throne.
Notably, around the sutra pillars and incense bowls are 12 lotus petal stone pedestals with similar shapes and sizes.
In 1991, the State Bank of Vietnam printed the image of Pho Minh tower on the 100-dong banknote.
Source: collected by An
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