VietNamNet Bridge – This Temple is called Dat Set (Clay) because it has hundreds of large and small statues made from clay. This pagoda also has eight candles weighing a total of 1.4 tons.

Named Buu Son Tu (Buu Son Temple), but when a visitor asks any people on Ton Duc Thang Street of Soc Trang City about the Dat Set Pagoda, he/she will be led to the temple’s entrance with the message: "You should visit it."

The Dat Set Temple lies somewhere between private houses so if you don’t pay enough attention, you will easily run over it. Built 200 years ago by a man of the Ngo Family, the temple does not have Buddhist monks. It is managed by the Ngo Family.

The temple has been repaired several times. In 1928, Mr. Ngo Kim Tong, the fourth manager, after a serious illness and being warned in a dream, he decided to repair and embellish the temple by clay statues and mascots, instead of bronze or carved wood ones.

Tong dried clay and then put it in a mortar to grind into powder. The clay powder was filtered again and mixed with a special powder to create a plastic mixture. He used this mixture to knead statues. After that the statues were covered with paint and varnish, which make them look like wood statues. A total of 1,991 large and small statues were made by clay in 42 years.

Until now, these statues are still intact at the Dat Set Temple. The statues of Amitabha, Sakyamuni, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Confucius and Jade Emperor are arranged based on the thought of the integration of three religions (Buddhism - Confucianism - Taoism).

There are many special statues, such as the Buddha statue with up to 1,000 lotus petals, with each small Buddha sitting on each lotus petal or Da Bao Tower of 3.5 meter high with 13 floors, 208 doors and 126 dragons supporting the tower.

The Dat Set Temple is not only famous for the statues made of clay but also by six large candles, each weighing 200kg tree and two smaller candles, each weighing 100 kg.

The eight candles were molded from pure wax for months. The two small candles have been lit from the day Mr. Tong died. They have kept burning out for 43 years. After the two small candles burn to the end, a pair of two large candles will be lit, respectively. It is expected that each big candle will burn out in about 70 years. If each candle is lit one by one, they will burn out all in about 400 years.

Along with many other temples, the Dat Set Temple is one of the destinations in Soc Trang and it is the unique temple in Vietnam.

Pha Le