Sights - One Pillar Pagoda

According to the court records, emperor Lý Thái Tông was childless and dreamt that he met the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who handed him a baby son while seated on a lotus flower. He then married a peasant girl - the couple had a son.

The emperor was very happy with his son and to show his how grateful he was he constructed a temple in 1049 after consulting a monk. The monk advised him to build a temple in the style of the lotus flower in a pond on a single pedestal like the one he saw in his dream when he saw Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Over the years the temple was “perfected” in 1105, rebuilt around 1840 later in 1922 and then fully rebuilt after being blown up in 1954. The pagoda has had an interesting history to say the least.

Construction

The temple is built of wood on a single stone pillar 1.25 meters in diameter and 4 meters in height, and it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purity, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond.