DECIPHERING THE NAME OF BA DANH PAGODA, KIM BANG DISTRICT, HA NAM PROVINCE (FROM A TRADITIONAL CREATIVE PERSPECTIVE)

Abstract

The locution "As empty as Bà Đanh pagoda" in Vietnamese culture implies the solitude. When searching the name " Bà Đanh pagoda" on the mass media, most of them were directed to Bảo Sơn Tự, Ngọc Sơn commune, Kim Bảng district, Hà Nam province. In fact, there are dozens of pagodas in Hanoi, Ha Nam, Hai Phong, Nghe An, etc. also called “Bà Đanh pagoda”. The research deciphers the above phenomenon from the invented tradition perspective to point out the  hortcomings that the media has brought. At the same time, it suggests a new understanding of the name "Bà Đanh" as an “invented tradition” to turn an Indianised goddess in Champa religion into the name of a Vietnamese pagoda