The Bai Dinh Pagoda in northern Viet Nam’s Ninh Binh province promises to be the largest pagoda. Even though it is still under construction, with expected date of completion in 2010 to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long or Hanoi, it is still attracting a large number of pilgrims and tourists.
Located in Gia Sinh Commune, Gia Vien District, the half-finished pagoda is already receiving flocks of visitors daily despite being surrounded by scaffoldings and 500 masons working around the clock.
One of its temples is to house a 100-ton statue of the Great Buddha which is the heaviest of its kind in Southeast Asia while the other will feature three 50-ton Buddha statues.
The four were cast from Russian-made copper by renowned artists from Nam Dinh province.
The pagoda will also be home to two large bronze bells 27 ton and 36 tons, designed by famous artisans in Hue City.
The former was brought to the construction site two years ago and has sat on a hilltop ever since while the other, 36 tons and 5.4m high, is the biggest bronze bell in Southeast Asia.
On another hill sit around 200 statues of arhats or la han saints two meters tall. A further 300 are expected to come by late this year.
When all are finished, this undoubtedly will make Bai Dinh Pagoda the biggest gathering of arhat statues in Southeast Asia.
Other prominent features of the pagoda are two giant temples by the side of the Bai Dinh Mountain, 200m high.
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