The casting of the Dai Hong Chung bell began last August, according to artisan Nguyen Van Sinh in central Hue City. The bell is in the final stages of completion and will be hung at the Truong Yen cultural and historical relic site on the 1,000^th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Caster Nguyen Truong Son, son of artisan Nguyen Van Sinh, said the bell is 5.5 metres high, 3.4 metres wide and 19 centimetres thick. It weighs 30 tonnes and is all pure bronze. The bell’s estimated value is as much as VND6.5 billion (US$406,000). Mr Son added that he had spent nearly 4,000 days working to finish the bell.

Southeast Asia’s biggest bell is decorated by two Buddhist poems, one in Chinese characters and the other in Vietnamese. In addition, patterns around the bell are cast impressively and meaningfully.

Caster Nguyen Truong Son said his establishment had earlier handed over a 21-tonne bell to Bai Dinh pagoda in Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh province.