[VN Courier 29/6] Dau Pagoda

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Dau Pagoda

By Nguyen Lan Cuong

The statues of two legendary monks at the Dau pagoda, about 24km south
of Hanoi in Ha Tay province, are more than just replicas. Legend has it
that the monks themselves are still inside, encased in primitive earthen
plaster and painted over upon their deaths two centuries ago.
The monks have been the subject of archeological, medical, and spiritual
study for years, and indications are that the legends are true: the
monks were preserved intact, exactly as they died at prayer in the lotus
position. Indeed, cracks in the coating reveal the skull and other
bones.
According to a stele erected in the 5th year of Duong Hoa reign (1639),
Dau pagoda was first built in the Ly dynasty (13th century), but all
traces of this original structure have disapeared.
The current structure bears the imprint of Le and Nguyen dynasties
(16-18th centuries), according to the bell towers, stele designs and
construction bricks.
The two resident monks who are now uniquely preserved at the site are Vu
Khac Minh and Vu Khac Truong.
One day Monk Vu Khac Minh asked his followers to close the temple doors
for 100 days. He sat alone in the temple saying prayers and tapping a
bamboo tocsin. At his sides were two vases, one for drinking water and
one with oil for a lamp.
He said on the 100th day, if there was no stench of decomposed flesh,
his corpse should be painted. However, if his corpse was ruined, the
whole temple should be buried.
Following his recommendations, the believers waited until the 100th day
to open the temple door. They saw that the monk had died but he sat in
the same position as if he was always saying prayers.
They modeled paint on the monk's corpse. The present statue in the
pagoda is the corpse of monk Vu Khac Minh himself. The monk has his
pseudonym as "Bonze superior under Boddhisattva".
The statue sits flat with crossed legs in his entering dhyana position,
the body folded, the head lightly bending forward, two hands placed
before the belly, the right palm turned inwards, the left palm outwards.
>From a crack of 2mm large at the head and the face, the inside can be
seen as a skull bone.
The second statue, also according to the legend, is buddhist monk Vu
Khac Truong, successor of Vu Khac Minh. This one is painted white, the
lips vermillion, the eyebrows and eyes ink drawn.
It has the legs crossed but sits straight. From a crack on the left
knee, thigh and shin bone can be clearly seen. But the second statue is
not as valuable as the first one, because of their different material
making.
In the first statue, the material to model the skeleton was made of
smooth earth mixed with live paint and saw dust, then covered with a
thin layer of red brown paint. The second statue was told to have been
damaged by flood and later remodeled by lime and sand.
Recently, with an assistance from doctors of X ray department in Bach
Mai hospital, archaeologists have come to the conclusion that most bone
joints are exactly in their physiological positions, which proved that
the bones were not sticked together by any sort of glue. The skeleton is
that of a man and conforms to the legend. On the other hand, the whole
skull remains intact, which proves that the brain has not been taken out
of the skull.
The statue of monk Vu Khac Minh weighs 7kg, its sitting height 57cm. A
question was put as to whether or not the monk's corpse was dried over a
fire before being modeled into a statue?
The archaeologists' opinion is no because the corpse would still have
its skin on if it was dried. The case is quite the contrary. Thus the
mummifying technique here is totally different from the usual one.
Dau pagoda is being classified by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture and
Information as a historic-cultural vestige since 1962. This original
method of corpse conservation has been introduced on the international
bone review by Sweden and the Asian Buddhism for Peace Review.
A documentary film "Secrets of the Dau pagoda statue" made by director
Pham Binh and the Central Scientific Documentary Film Studio has been
awarded special prize at the 1988 Vietnam Film Festival and has attended
the international film festival in Poland in 1988.
The pagoda also has other precious objects like steles, bells, gongs,
bronze books and statues, wood plates engraved of Nom characters. 

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