MangoVine - Mini One Pillar Pagoda

17 March, 2009
Tuesday

The One-Pillar Pagoda is also within the Ho Chi Minh complex in Hanoi, at the back of the Mausoleum. It's an ancient pagoda first built in 1049 under the Ly Dynasty and which has the shape of a lotus blooming on its stem.

There's an interesting legend referring to the construction of the pagoda whereupon King Ly Thanh Tong had a dream about this lotus shaped construction. When he had it constructed, he was "rewarded" with a son.

When we see it, the pagoda is short and compact and a little unusual since most pagodas that we've seen (and we've seen a few already in Vietnam!) have several levels. It therefore makes a quick visit to get over with, although because of its size and the number of visitors, there was quite a crowd to get through on the stairs.

The people there were a mix of tourists and local people paying some respects at the altar, which can be seen at the top of the stairs. The western tourists crowded the altar with their cameras, and the low wall on either side of the stairs made climbing them a little precarious when faced with all the traffic.

To my amusement, the Western tourists were politely waiting their turn to move about until they were quickly fed up with the Vietnamese locals pushing through, and so just did the same.

More One Pillar Pagoda photos on Flickr

This entry posted in : History. Tourism. Vietnam.

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Mini One Pillar Pagoda

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