One Pillar Pagoda is located in the heart of Hanoi capital. This is a unique architecture in Vietnam. Coming to Hanoi, It is a pity if you do not spend the time visiting this place. Three Dinh, Tien Le and Ly feudal dynasties in Vietnam was very interested in Buddhism and considered Buddhism as the national religion. They built many pagodas in North Vietnam. One Pillar Pagoda was built by King Ly Thai Tong in1049. King Ly Thai Tong often came to pray to ask Buddha for a prince to continue his career and he succeeded. Therefore, he built more another pagoda next to the One Pillar Pagoda and named as Dien Huu (English: long blessing).
In 1954, the French Expeditionary Force, before withdrawing from Hanoi, set up mines to break the One Pillar Pagoda. After taking over the capital, the Ministry of Culture of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam built a new One Pillar Pagoda right old place. One pillar pagoda we see now was built in 1955 with the responsibility of the architect Nguyen Ba Lang. The new pagoda was similar to the one before. Looking generally, it looks like a lotus. The foundation is square, with each side 3m long. The foundation was built on a column made from stone, with the height of 4m (not counting submerged part under the water face) and the diameter is 1.2m. The upper part of the column is a system of wooden beams to support the above tower. The pagoda has tile roofs with four curved their corners. On the top of the pagoda has the statue of Two dragons looking at the moon (Vietnamese: Lưỡng long chầu nguyệt). The pagoda is placed in the center of a pond surrounded by railing made of bricks. In the pagoda garden, especially, there is a blue sacred fig presented by Indian President Rajendra Prasad in 1958.
One Pillar Pagoda was chosen as one of the symbols of Hanoi Capital. In Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City also has a version of One Pillar Pagoda. In addition, a version of the Pagoda was built in the Moscow Capital. A pagoda looks like a lotus. That has attracted many tourists’ attention. Every year, there are millions of domestic and foreign tourists coming for sightseeing.
You might like this Cau Pagoda in Hoi An Ancient Town
