Going back to Thai Binh to visit the temple, there are 2 festival seasons a year
Thai Binh is not a land with many famous tourist attractions, however, if it comes to outstanding places, many people will immediately think of Keo Pagoda. Keo Pagoda is also known as Than Quang Tu, which was built in 1061 but was destroyed by natural disasters, so it was rebuilt by people.
After rebuilding, there are now two Keo pagodas: Keo Under Pagoda, also known as Keo Hanh Thien in Xuan Truong, Nam Dinh and Keo Tren Pagoda (Keo Thuong Pagoda) in Dung Nhue village in Thai Binh. But better known is still Keo Tren Pagoda in Thai Binh.
This temple was completed in 1632, so far it is nearly 400 years old. Each year, Keo Pagoda has two festivals taking place on the 4th of January and from the 10th to the 15th of the 9th lunar month, but the main festival takes place from 13 to 15 September. In which, the autumn festival taking place in September to commemorate Zen Master Duong Khong Lo attracts many people.
One of the main activities of the festival in the 9th month of the lunar calendar is opening only the Holy Temple door, offering sacrifices to the holy Buddha in the temple’s interior, carrying the saint’s palanquin… In which the procession of the saint is considered a ritual. big, only happens once every 3 years. At this festival, you will witness a solemn procession as well as participate in many folk games. Since 2017, Keo Pagoda Festival has also been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The special things of Keo Pagoda
The campus of Keo Pagoda is about 58,000 square meters, at first there were 21 buildings with 157 spaces, but now there are only 17 buildings with 128 compartments. Another special thing of this temple is that the whole pagoda is made of ironwood, with an ancient construction technique: using wooden tenons together. It is known that to build Keo Pagoda it takes 19 years to prepare wood. After 400 years, the structure of the temple is still very solid.
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