Originally, this temple faced east, overlooking the Long Binh river, where there was a boat wharf near the banyan tree so that people could easily go to the temple to listen to sutras and worship Buddha, so it was named Wat Kompong Ch'ray ( Ben Cay Da Pagoda). By the early 20th century, the pagoda added a side gate to the west, facing Provincial Road 36 (now National Highway 54). This side gate has a dome-shaped three-entrance gate, very thick walls, 8 m long, forming two small caves on both sides, a large cave in the middle, so the pagoda has the name Hang Pagoda.
The arched cave-shaped pagoda gate is not only an artistic architectural work that differentiates Hang Pagoda from the rest of the Khmer pagodas in the province, but also contains profound religious historical value. The cave gate is a "vestige" showing that Khmer Theravada Buddhism in Tra Vinh has a certain inheritance from Brahmanism, because in the past, Brahman monks often quietly practiced in dark, deserted caves. Shadows of people passing by. Compared to other Khmer Theravada Buddhist temples in Tra Vinh province, Hang Pagoda is not a large temple. The attraction of this temple to tourists from near and far lies in its wood carving workshop that has been operating for nearly 30 years, with many products that resonate in the Vietnamese fine arts market and a strictly protected "bird sanctuary". Strictly exists next to Tra Vinh city.
The Southern Khmer people are a people who live very friendly with the environment, with nature, especially with trees. Wherever there are Khmer people, there are trees. The whole Tra Vinh province has 143 Khmer Theravada Buddhist temples, 143 green tree complexes covering many hectares, with many hundreds of years old trees that are always well protected.
Decades ago, when cutting down trees, especially old trees, people only cared about the wood collected from the tree trunks, and the stumps were only used for firewood, and even left them in place, for rainy and sunny times. rot away, returning the land area for other plants to grow. In the late 1980s, during a restoration, the pagoda brought in artist Thach Buol from Vinh Long to decorate the wooden frames of the main hall. Seeing through the artist's hands, the same wooden trunks suddenly turned into many images and vivid patterns, so monk Thach Suong suggested artisan Thach Buol to take advantage of the value of tree stumps that were being left to rot everywhere. So the wood carving class at Hang Pagoda was born, with nearly 10 students who were monks at the temple and young people in Phum Soc. The art wood carving workshop was established right on the temple grounds, both producing and continuing vocational training for young people everywhere, in the form of vocational training and hand-on-job instruction.
Visiting Hang Pagoda, visitors can directly witness artisans and wood carving workshop workers using many different tools, handcrafting unique works from tree stumps of all types and sizes. and shape. The most difficult step that also requires the highest artistic thinking is identifying images, lines, and compositions of works from tree stumps with intertwined natural roots, no two roots are the same. Artist Son Soc, the workshop's master craftsman, said that sometimes when he puts up a tree stump and looks at it intently day after day, he can't imagine anything, but suddenly there is a moment of sublimation, from the lines and shapes. The enemies of tree stumps and roots clearly show the images of animals, flowers and leaves. So, with a ballpoint pen in hand, the artist sketches images and lines in detail directly on each specific part from the root to the big roots, small roots... for the group of craftsmen to perform the sawing and cutting. , chiseled, carved.
After nearly 30 years of operation, Chua Hang wood carving art workshop has produced many thousands of works in many different sizes. There are works that can be easily held in the hand and used to decorate a desk, to monumental works that take up an area of up to 60 m2 and weigh many tons that can only be placed in the lobbies of palaces, temples, and large-scale hotels. All works from Hang Pagoda wood carving workshop, whether large or small, bear the mark of traditional visual art of the Southern Khmer people.
When visiting, visitors can choose to buy or order for the following tour the wood sculpture works of art that they like best.
From the Hang Pagoda wood carving workshop, generations of trained artisans returned to the locality to open sculpture facilities at pagodas or at home, gradually forming a traditional village of Khmer wood carving art in the locality. discuss the whole province. Tree stumps that were thought to be just discarded throughout the villages are now transformed by artists into works of art that have the power to touch people's hearts.
The Hang Pagoda campus is about 7 hectares wide, truly a primeval forest with many species of endemic sand dune plants such as star, oil, bamboo, etc. crowded together into many different high and low levels that are very valuable. biosphere and is a natural source of genes for future generations.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the forest in the Hang Pagoda campus has had many crows and bats residing in it. At night they spread out in search of food, and during the day they hang from tree branches. However, during the Spring of Mau Than war, the Saigon government sent planes to bomb and fire artillery at the temple grounds, destroying many structures, breaking down many trees and causing casualties to a number of monks and nuns. The Khmer children in Phum Soc are taking refuge in the temple. From then on, the bat groups left one by one.
After the war ended, especially from the 1990s onwards, the Hang Pagoda campus became a gathering place for many types of birds. As soon as the phenomenon of birds gathering returned, the monks and people in Phum Soc were very happy. The pagoda sets very strict regulations on bird protection and forest tree protection, creating a peaceful natural environment for more and more flocks of birds to return to reside.
Today, on the campus of more than 7 hectares of Hang Pagoda, there are nearly tens of thousands of birds of all kinds, most of which are white storks, ivory storks, red-necked storks and herons. Being loved and protected by humans, birds become more and more bold. They nest even in the newly planted bonsai area in front of the main hall yard, the monk's house...
Hang Pagoda campus is truly a "bird sanctuary" right next to the center of Tra Vinh city.
Coming to Hang Pagoda, after worshiping the Buddha sitting on the main hall, visiting the artistic wood carving workshop, visitors can spend some time sitting on the stone benches scattered around the main hall. In our sight, birds in the morning sky soar high, spreading out to find food in the nearby fields and rivers; In the afternoon, they come back one by one, bringing food for the waiting young birds, creating a noisy atmosphere for the quiet forest of meditation.
Only about 5 km from the center of Tra Vinh city, about the same distance from the cultural and tourist area of Ang Pagoda - Ba Om Pond - Khmer National Cultural Treasure, Hang Pagoda is an ideal destination for tourists. Guests cannot miss when setting foot in Tra Vinh land.