Giac Vien pagoda in Ho Chi Minh

Location and history

Located at number 161/85/20, Lac Long Quan Street, District 11, Giac Vien is one of the oldest temples in Ho Chi Minh City. At first, it only used to be a warehouse while another pagoda (named Giac Lam) was being rebuilt. After the renovation of the latter was completed, Giac Vien Pagoda was extended as a thatched-roof hut used for worshipping Bodhisattva and was named Kwan-Yin. Finally, it became a pagoda in 1850, thanks to the monk Hai Tinh Giac Vien. People said that Emperor Gia Long of Nguyen Dynasty used to worship at Giac Vien – known as the centre of Buddhism of the 6 southern provinces in 19th century. Originally constructed in 1789, this pagoda underwent major restorations in 1899 and 1910. Today, it still preserves many Buddhist printing inscriptions of considerable value.

Architecture

The pagoda’s style, decoration and arrangement of the worshipping shrines followed the typical ancient of pagodas built under Nguyen Dynasty of the 19th century, as well as of southern area. Because of its history, Giac Vien’s structure is similar to that of Giac Lam’s, with the main big sanctuary to worship Buddha, 2 corridors to the east and west to prepare and a spacious compartment at the rear. Once coming to Giac Vien Pagoda, tourists should pay attention to the 60 wooden engraving plates, each of them illustrates different symbols of Vietnamese culture and daily life. They are the only ones that have been perfectly-preserved in Vietnam.

How to get there

Since Giac Vien Pagoda is incorporated into Dam Sen Theme Park, getting there by bus No. 11 (can be taken at Ben Thanh Bus Station) is possible. However, though Giac Vien is just down the road from Giac Lam, it’s harder to find. The way is: come out of Giac Lam and turn right onto Lac Long Quan St. Go straight on at the roundabout and the entrance is about 200m further down on the right. For more convenient transport within the city, visitors can choose taxi or motorbike.

Giac Lam pagoda in Ho Chi Minh

Giac Lam pagoda in Ho Chi Minh

Location and history

Giac Lam is one of the oldest pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City. Originally, it was built by Ly Thuy Long – a native Minh Huong, in 1744, as a gathering place during Lunar New Year. The new-built temple was like a scenic lookout overlooking Gia Dinh Market while the area was still undeveloped and quite like a jungle. The name Giac Lam was given to the pagoda after the arrival of Monk Thich Lam Quang of the Lam Te Zen lineage, in 1772. After many times of renovation and reconstruction, it’s now located at 118 Lac Long Quan Street, Tan Binh District. Local people also call it Cam Son or Cam Dien Pagoda.

Typical architecture of southern pagodas

“The Third” structure of Giac Lam Pagoda is also typical of southern pagodas. It means the pagoda consists of 3 main buildings: the main ceremonial hall, the dharma preaching hall and the meal hall. The first one is big with many huge pillars engraved with meaningful sentences. It worships many Buddhas such as Buddha Amitabha, Buddha Shakyamuni and some Bodhisattva like Maitreya Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Giac Lam Pagoda has 118 statues made of wood, bronze and cement. Most of them are very ancient and valuable, which demonstrate the development of Vietnamese art of sculpture in 18th century. Not only is Giac Lam a place to observe traditional southern structure of pagodas, but it’s also where tourists can discover the specific cultural characteristics of Vietnam, like the 4-season fruit pattern.

The garden and seven-storied stupa

In front of the pagoda is a big bodhi tree, a gift from Sri Lankan great monk Narada in 1953, accompanied by the arrival of a sample of the relics of Gautama Buddha. With the purpose to store these relics, a seven-storey high stupa was started building in 1970 under the architectural plans of Vinh Hoang. Due to wars, the construction was put off and could only finish in 1993. Today, the east-facing, hexagonal-shaped stupa is considered as a landmark, being the tallest Buddhist tower in the city.

How to get there

You can reach Giac Lam Pagoda in many ways: by taxi, private car, by motorbike or by bus (see guide to Ho Chi Minh City Bus). If you travel by bus, all you need to do is catching bus No.27 at Ben Thanh Bus Station and then get off at the crossroad Lac Long Quan – Au Co. Then you can find the way to Giac Lam Pagoda.