Vietnam Colors of life19

1. Colors of life

3. Linh Phuoc Pagoda is a beautiful Buddhist shrine in Da Lat, every surface of which is covered in stunning mosaics

5. The outstanding feature of the pagoda is the method of carefully carving and decorating the dragon statue with pieces of pottery, porcelain and glass in the style of the ancient people at Khai Dinh Tomb in Hue

6. Right next to the pagoda is the unique Long Hoa Vien (Dragon Flower Park), with a meandering dragon-shaped three-door gate

7. The front of the pagoda is lined with meticulous sculptured pillars in the shape of flying dragons which were made from glass debris

9. Linh Phuoc Pagoda, or known as Ve Chai Pagoda, was built in 1949 and completed in 1953. In 1990, it was renovated on a larger scale with thousands of porcelain bottles 

10. The pagoda is also known as “Bottle pagoda”, thanks to its mosaic design with millions of pieces of bottles, broken dishes, and colorful crockery From 1990 to present, Linh Phuoc Pagoda has been continuously added new constructions with a unique design

13. The "junk" pagoda, a cute nickname for the Linh Phuoc Pagoda, because it is decorated with thousands of broken crockery, porcelain, ceramic pieces. In front of the temple grounds is a 37 m high seven-storeyed tower, which is considered the highest temple bell tower in Vietnam

19. Two tall guardian statues in the bell tower

21. In the heart of the Dai Hong Chung tower is a 4.3 m high bell that is considered one of the heaviest bell in Vietnam; it weighs 8,500 kg, and was cast in 1999. However, at present, the chime in Bai Dinh Pagoda (Ninh Binh Province) is on the first ranking

22. Visitors are invited to write their wishes and prayers on a small piece of paper, turn the bell to the current season, and stick the paper on the bell. After ringing the bell three times, the prayers are then sent to Buddha

23. Tall guardian statues on either side

29. The statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara It has a height of 17m in concrete and inlaid with gold

30. The shrine has 3 floors, made of porcelain, each floor has 108 statues worship Quan The Bodhisattva size smaller

32. In 1990, a major reconstruction was undertaken. At that time, the spacious main hall of 33m long and 22m wide was built. Inside the hall lies a big statue of Buddha Shakyamuni meditating on a lotus

33. Above the two rows of columns decorated with dragons are 12 embossments inlaid with crockery describing the history of Shakyamuni Buddha from his birth to nirvana. There are also sculptural paintings of classic reference of Amitabha and The Lotus Sutra

34. The sitting jade Buddha figure in a side temple

38. The temple is famous also for its statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara made of 700,000 immortal flowers. The statue is 17m high, and was certified as a world record by the World Record Union in 2017

39. Next to the Lady Buddha statue made by immortal flowers are the 324 external statues of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (3 stories)

41. Splendid mosaics cover the whole stunning temple

45. All the pagoda is inlaid with debris of glass, pottery bowls and porcelain forming colorful patterns harmonizing and balancing each other

49. The temple grounds (Hoa Long Vien) have a dragon of length 49 m, the dragon enclosure is made of 12,000 beer bottles, and the dragon mouth covers the Maitreya Buddha