Some 8,000 typical antiques are being kept in a museum inside Van Hanh Zen Monastery, which is famous for a 24m tall Sakyamuni statue, in the flower city of Da Lat, Lam Dong Province.

The path leading to the museum is impressively decorated with 200 stone mortars of different dates. Some mortars are up to 100 to 300 years old.

Superior Buddhist Monk Thich Vien Thanh, the museum’s owner, said that he has collected such antiques for year 40 years now. The antiques are related to Buddhist culture, and the agriculture and wet rice civilization of different Vietnamese ethnic groups.

Highlights of this museum are a drum made of buffalo hide, dated back more than 150 years and presented by the Central Highlands people; more than 100 gongs with the biggest one in 90cm diameter; and 50 copper thuribles and statues, bought from a royal family in Hue city.

According to Superior Buddhist Monk Thich Vien Thanh, he loves the collection of different copper pots most, with small pots for braising fish or cooking dishes and large ones for rice for 50 people. Superior Buddhist Monk Thich Vien Thanh said that through these antiques, which were close to the daily life of ancestors for years, he wanted to help young generations understand part of the nation’s history.

Apart from antiques, this monk also owns a collection of wooden Buddhas and a collection of stones from Buddha relics in India, Nepal and Japan.

Source: Thanhnien

Translated by Mai Huong