In the heart of the mountain town of Kon Tum on the northern bank of the westward-flowing Đăk Bla River, where a square city block is bounded by Phan Chu Trinh, Mạc Đĩnh Chi, Trần Phú and Bà Triệu streets, you will come upon a pair of porcelain-inlaid triple-gate pillars rising beneath old pine and frangipani trees. Stepping through that triple gate reveals a tranquil monastery built in the traditional timber-frame style of imperial Huế, its flat yin-yang tile roof coated in green moss and its central bay displaying a red-and-gold plaque inscribed with the four Chinese characters Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự.
This is Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda (also revered as Bác Ái Ancestral Temple), located on Phan Chu Trinh Street and at 10 Mạc Đĩnh Chi Street, Kon Tum ward, Quảng Ngãi province (prior to the 2025 administrative reorganization, Quyết Thắng ward, Kon Tum city, Kon Tum province). Begun in the Nhâm Thân year (1932) and completed in early Quý Dậu (1933), Bác Ái is not only the very first Buddhist pagoda built in the Northern Central Highlands but also a poignant historical monument to the early 20th-century pioneer migration into the highlands.
IMost Venerable Hoằng Thông, Mandarin Võ Chuẩn and the vow of universal compassion
The birth of Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda arose from a tragic chapter in the lives of central Vietnamese migrants in the early 1930s. In 1931 and 1932, the coastal provinces from Thừa Thiên Huế, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi down to Bình Định suffered severe droughts, crop failures and famine. Tens of thousands of impoverished settlers left their lowland villages and climbed the Măng Đen and An Khê mountain passes onto the Kon Tum plateau to clear land for hamlets and labor on highland road construction. Amid dense forests, malarial streams, malignant fevers and wild beasts, countless migrant laborers perished along the mountain trails or in makeshift camps without so much as a stick of incense offered for their departed souls.
Moved by the suffering of his compatriots, mandarin Võ Chuẩn (then Provincial Governor-Mandarin and Educational Commissioner of Kon Tum, a native of Phú Vang district, Thừa Thiên Huế) joined with public-spirited local elders and notables, foremost among them Phan Thanh Kỷ, to campaign for building a shrine for departed spirits and a pagoda for the Buddha. Võ Chuẩn and the founding committee traveled down to Quy Nhơn to invite Most Venerable Thích Hoằng Thông (an eminent master serving as Prior of Bạch Sa Pagoda in Bình Định) and a delegation of monks to ascend to Kon Tum. There they conducted a three-day, three-night grand requiem ceremony (đại đàn giải oan bạt độ) to pray for the deliverance of the perished pioneers and laid the foundation stone for the pagoda in the Nhâm Thân year (1932).
In the history of Vietnamese Buddhism in the Central Highlands, the title Bác Ái (博愛, meaning universal love and boundless compassion embracing all beings) captures the bodhisattva spirit of relieving suffering at the moment Buddhism first took root in the highland forests. At its inception, the compound combined both Linh Sơn Pagoda (Linh Sơn Tự) for the worship of the Buddha and the Shrine of Departed Souls (Âm Linh Miếu) for migrant laborers and highland inhabitants who had died in the wilderness. When Emperor Bảo Đại bestowed the imperial plaque Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự in 1933, the name Bác Ái affirmed that beneath this roof there was no division between lowland Kinh settlers and indigenous highland peoples, nor between Buddhists and Christians: the living found a compassionate refuge to build new lives, while the departed found deliverance to the Pure Land.
In cross-checking historical accounts of the founding of Bác Ái Pagoda and its imperial plaque between 1932 and 1933, the library notes two points where sources differ slightly. First, regarding the exact mandarin title held by Võ Chuẩn in Kon Tum in 1932, several local historical records and inscriptions refer to him as Provincial Governor-Mandarin of Kon Tum (Quản đạo Kon Tum, the highest-ranking Nguyễn court official in the province), whereas Giác Ngộ Newspaper and other studies cite his earlier post as Educational Commissioner (Huấn đạo, who was subsequently promoted to Quản đạo and authored the famous 1933 monograph Kontum tỉnh chí in Nam Phong journal). Second, regarding the exact lunar date in the Quý Dậu year (1933, the 8th year of Emperor Bảo Đại) when Emperor Bảo Đại bestowed the red-and-gold imperial plaque Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự, local tradition and several Buddhist records date the royal bestowal to the 7th day of the 1st lunar month of the Quý Dậu year (1933) at the spring inauguration, while other articles and provincial portals cite the 13th day of the 10th lunar month of the Quý Dậu year (1933). The library records both dates so readers can compare the sources.
Hearing the title Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda and seeing its great bronze bell cast in the 7th year of Emperor Minh Mạng (1826), many visitors assume that the pagoda itself was built in Kon Tum in the early 19th century. In historical reality, the Kon Tum highlands had no Buddhist monasteries in 1826, the bronze bell was originally cast in the lowlands during Emperor Minh Mạng's reign and was later brought up the mountains by the royal court and senior venerables in 1933 as a sacred gift to inaugurate Bác Ái Pagoda and bring peace to the frontier land.
IIMore than nine decades pioneering Buddhism on the highland plateau
After Võ Chuẩn personally drafted the architectural plans modeled on the traditional temples of imperial Huế, Phan Thanh Kỷ mobilized community contributions, and Most Venerable Thích Hoằng Thông presided over the groundbreaking in the 6th lunar month of the Nhâm Thân year (1932), construction proceeded rapidly using precious hardwoods from the Kon Tum forests crafted by master carpenters and masons invited up from Huế and Bình Định. By early Quý Dậu (1933), the monastery stood complete, becoming the very first Buddhist institution across the entire Northern Central Highlands.
Following the inauguration ceremony and the reception of Emperor Bảo Đại's imperial plaque in 1933, Most Venerable Thích Từ Vân was invited to serve as the first resident abbot. Across more than nine decades under successive generations of eminent abbots (including Most Venerables Thích Bửu Không and Thích Chánh Quang), Bác Ái Pagoda has served as the mother ancestral temple nurturing Buddhism across former Kon Tum province (now western Quảng Ngãi province), housing the provincial Buddhist association and training monastics for the highlands.
- 1931 to 1932Wave of central Vietnamese pioneers migrating to Kon TumDriven by drought and famine along the central coast, tens of thousands of migrants from Huế, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định trekked up to Kon Tum to clear land and build roads, many died of malaria and hardship.
- 1932Three-day requiem assembly and groundbreaking of the pagodaMandarin Võ Chuẩn and elder Phan Thanh Kỷ mobilized the community, secured the consent of French Resident Quénin, and invited Most Venerable Thích Hoằng Thông from Bạch Sa Pagoda (Quy Nhơn) to conduct a three-day requiem and begin building Linh Sơn Pagoda and the Shrine of Departed Souls.
- 1933Completion and bestowal of Emperor Bảo Đại's plaque Sắc tứ Bác Ái TựCompleted in early Quý Dậu (1933, 8th year of Bảo Đại), the pagoda was granted the gilded imperial plaque Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự by Emperor Bảo Đại (sources cite either the 7th day of the 1st lunar month or the 13th day of the 10th lunar month) and welcomed Most Venerable Thích Từ Vân as its first abbot.
- 1933Presentation of the 1826 Minh Mạng great bronze bellThe Nguyễn court and senior venerables presented the pagoda with an antique U Minh bronze bell cast in the 8th lunar month of the 7th year of Minh Mạng (Bính Tuất 1826), along with woodblock scriptures and ritual vessels.
- 1950 to 1968Provincial Buddhist center and compound expansionUnder the abbacy of Most Venerable Thích Bửu Không, the pagoda expanded its East and West Corridors, built a lecture hall and served as the headquarters of the Kon Tum Provincial Buddhist Congregation.
- 2003 to 2015Conservation of the antique timber frame and provincial heritage rankingThe monastery underwent careful conservation to preserve its original Huế timber truss frame in the Main Sanctuary and Patriarch Hall, and was recognized as a provincial historical and cultural heritage site.
- 2025Incorporated into Kon Tum ward, new Quảng Ngãi provinceUnder Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15 and Resolution No. 1677/NQ-UBTVQH15 effective July 2025, Quyết Thắng ward merged into Kon Tum ward directly under Quảng Ngãi province.
In his 1933 regional gazetteer Kontum tỉnh chí (Gazetteer of Kon Tum Province), Võ Chuẩn himself recorded detailed observations on the geography, ethnic communities, customs and the laying out of streets and temples in Kon Tum town beside the Đăk Bla River. Thanks to those contemporary writings together with the Chinese parallel couplets carved on the hardwood columns of Bác Ái Pagoda's main hall, posterity knows with certainty that the pagoda was raised through the joint devotion of Nguyễn court mandarins, merchants, road laborers and local residents as a spiritual anchor in the highland wilderness.
IIIHuế nhà rường timber architecture on the plateau and the 1826 Minh Mạng bell
Because Võ Chuẩn, a mandarin from a scholarly Huế family, personally drew up the architectural plans and invited master carpenters from imperial Huế and Bình Định to build it, Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda brings authentic traditional Huế temple architecture to the heart of the Central Highlands. The overall ground plan follows the chữ Môn (門) layout (an enclosed courtyard compound), opening with a triple gate flanked by tall porcelain-inlaid pillars, leading into a spacious forecourt with an open-air Avalokiteśvara pavilion and antique spirit screen, centered on the Main Sanctuary backed by the Patriarch Hall, and flanked symmetrically by the East and West Corridors.
The Main Sanctuary is constructed in the classic three-bay, two-wing Huế timber-frame house style (nhà rường), roofed with flat yin-yang tiles (ngói liệt) and crowned along the main ridge by two dragons flanking the sun (lưỡng long chầu nhật) inlaid in colorful porcelain mosaic, with sweeping phoenix-tail roof corners. All main columns, secondary pillars, beams, tie-beams and brackets inside the sanctuary were fashioned from the finest old-growth hardwoods of the 1930s Central Highlands forests, including rosewood (gỗ trắc), purplewood (gỗ tía), cà chít wood and fragrant padauk (gỗ hương), which after nearly a century still gleam with a deep reddish-brown patina untouched by termites.
Facing south toward the main street and the Đăk Bla River, the triple gate features four tall square pillars crowned with lotus buds and seated qilin, their shafts inlaid in porcelain mosaic with classical Chinese couplets in imperial Huế style.
Hung prominently in the central bay of the Main Sanctuary is the red-lacquered, gold-leaf horizontal plaque bestowed by Emperor Bảo Đại in the Quý Dậu year (1933), carved with dragons amid clouds framing the four characters Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự.
A solemn Northern Buddhist sanctuary supported by stacked-beam and false-bracket trusses (chồng rường giả thủ) carved with the four sacred animals and four noble plants. The main altar enshrines Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddhas of the Three Times, Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta beneath antique canopies.
An antique U Minh bronze bell standing roughly 1.2 meters tall and weighing over 100 kg, inscribed with a Chinese text dating its casting to the 8th lunar month of the Bính Tuất year, the 7th year of Emperor Minh Mạng (1826), nearly two centuries old.
Behind the Main Sanctuary stands the Patriarch Hall honoring Bodhidharma, Founding Master Thích Hoằng Thông, successive abbots and the memorial tablets of lay founders Võ Chuẩn and Phan Thanh Kỷ. The grounds also preserve the Âm Linh shrine for pioneer souls and ancient stupas.
Among the historical treasures safeguarded at Bác Ái Ancestral Temple, the most precious is the Great Bronze Bell (U Minh bell) cast in the 8th lunar month of the Bính Tuất year (1826), the 7th year of Emperor Minh Mạng, making the bell more than a century older than the pagoda itself. Its hanging loop is cast in the form of twin addorsed dragons (bồ lao), while its body is divided into four panels inscribed with Chinese verses praying for favorable weather, national peace and the deliverance of departed souls. Alongside this bell, the temple preserves carved wooden sutra blocks, royal edicts, ritual canopies and calligraphic boards presented by central Vietnamese scholars in 1933.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional landform feng shui. It is not something recorded in the pagoda's steles or heritage files. The library states this plainly so that readers can distinguish historical documentation from topographical interpretation.
Viewed within the macro-topography of the Kon Tum basin on the Northern Central Highlands plateau, Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda stands at 14.3492 degrees north latitude and 108.0028 degrees east longitude, occupying a level, elevated terrace on the northern bank of the Đăk Bla River. In the landform feng shui of the Central Highlands, the Đăk Bla is an extraordinary river: whereas almost all rivers in Vietnam flow eastward into the East Sea, the Đăk Bla (the main tributary of the Sê San River) rises on the towering Ngọc Linh massif to the northeast and flows westward across the plateau. According to classical water-dragon principles, a river flowing counter to the general eastward slope of the country forms the rare configuration of reverse water paying court to the hall (nghịch thủy triều đường), a powerful pattern that gathers qi and prevents the vital energy of the highland mountains from draining away.
In terms of sitting and facing and the four emblems, the pagoda sits north and faces south (its main gate opens onto Phan Chu Trinh Street looking south toward the Đăk Bla River). Behind the pagoda to the north, the rising plateau hills form a steady rear backing (hậu chẩm), in front to the south, the gently curving Đăk Bla River serves as the outer bright hall (ngoại minh đường) gathering water, while the Chư Hreng mountain range rising across the southern bank of the river stands directly on the horizon as a classic front screen (tiền án). Bounded squarely by four grid streets (Phan Chu Trinh on the south, Bà Triệu on the north, Trần Phú on the east as the Azure Dragon on the left, and Mạc Đĩnh Chi on the west as the White Tiger on the right), the monastery enjoys a balanced, serene feng shui enclosure in the center of the mountain city.
VThe Pioneer Requiem and major annual Buddhist festivals in the mountain town
Born from a vow to comfort the souls of migrant pioneers who perished while opening the highlands in 1932, the ritual life of Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda is steeped in the Buddhist ethic of gratitude and repayment of kindness (tri ân và báo ân). Every year, alongside the major observances of Northern Buddhism, the monastery holds solemn memorial rites honoring Founding Master Thích Hoằng Thông, successive generations of abbots, lay founders Võ Chuẩn and Phan Thanh Kỷ, and the tens of thousands of compatriots who lost their lives clearing the highland frontier.
| Lunar date | Rite or Dharma assembly | Traditional ceremonial content |
|---|---|---|
| 1st to 15th day of the 1st lunar month | New Year peace prayer and commemoration of the imperial plaque | Residents of all ethnic groups in Kon Tum visit the pagoda to venerate the Buddha, chant the Medicine Buddha Sutra for peace and commemorate the spring of 1933 when the temple received the Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự plaque. |
| 8th to 15th day of the 4th lunar month | Grand Vesak celebration (Buddha's Birthday) in the Northern Highlands | Bathing of the baby Buddha rite (lễ Mộc dục), Buddha procession and Dharma talks at the oldest pagoda of the plateau, drawing both Kinh and ethnic minority Buddhists. |
| 14th to 16th day of the 7th lunar month | Vu Lan filial piety festival and Grand Requiem for Pioneer Souls | Continues the founding 1932 requiem tradition: chanting the Ullambana Sutra, offering robes to the sangha, honoring Founding Elders Võ Chuẩn and Phan Thanh Kỷ, and holding a grand requiem (trai đàn chẩn tế) for departed pioneers. |
| Annual patriarch memorial days | Death anniversaries of the Founding Master and former abbots | Monastic disciples and lay devotees circumambulate the stupas and offer incense in memory of Founding Master Thích Hoằng Thông, Most Venerable Thích Từ Vân, Most Venerable Thích Bửu Không and Most Venerable Thích Chánh Quang. |
Every seventh lunar month during the Vu Lan festival, when the deep tone of the 1826 Minh Mạng bronze bell resonates through the misty night air of the mountain town, the offerings at the Shrine of Departed Souls remind present-day residents of Kon Tum of their forebears from Huế, Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định who crossed mountain passes and forests to build a new homeland beside the Đăk Bla River more than ninety years ago.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Đường Phan Chu Trinh và số 10 đường Mạc Đĩnh Chi, phường Kon Tum (phường Quyết Thắng cũ, thành phố Kon Tum cũ, tỉnh Kon Tum cũ), tỉnh Quảng Ngãi
- Getting there
- The pagoda stands right in the urban center on the northern bank of the Đăk Bla River, bounded by Phan Chu Trinh Street, 10 Mạc Đĩnh Chi Street, Trần Phú Street and Bà Triệu Street, in Kon Tum ward, Quảng Ngãi province (formerly Quyết Thắng ward, Kon Tum city, Kon Tum province). From the Đăk Bla Bridge on National Highway 14, travel north into central Kon Tum ward for about 1.5 km along Trần Phú or Phan Chu Trinh Street to reach the pagoda.
- Coordinates
- 14.3492, 108.0028
When visiting Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda, you should dress modestly, enter the triple gate through the side portals and maintain quiet reverence across the monastery grounds. The rosewood and cà chít timber columns in the Main Sanctuary, the 1933 gilded plaque Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự and the Great Bronze Bell cast in the 7th year of Minh Mạng (1826) are priceless historical treasures of the Central Highlands, so please do not strike the bell or touch the antique woodwork. After venerating the Buddha in the Main Sanctuary, visitors are encouraged to visit the Rear Patriarch Hall and the Shrine of Departed Souls to light an incense stick in memory of the pioneers who opened the Kon Tum plateau.
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?Quick Questions
When was Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda built and who initiated its construction?
Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda was begun in the Nhâm Thân year (1932) and completed in early Quý Dậu (1933). It was designed by mandarin Võ Chuẩn (Provincial Governor-Mandarin and Educational Commissioner of Kon Tum), who together with elder Phan Thanh Kỷ mobilized community donations and invited Most Venerable Thích Hoằng Thông (Prior of Bạch Sa Pagoda in Quy Nhơn) to conduct a three-day requiem for central Vietnamese pioneers who died while clearing the highlands.
Why is the temple named Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự?
When first erected in 1932, the compound was known as Linh Sơn Pagoda and the Shrine of Departed Souls (Âm Linh Miếu). In the Quý Dậu year (1933, the 8th year of Bảo Đại), moved by the humanitarian spirit of the first Buddhist temple in the Central Highlands, Emperor Bảo Đại bestowed a gilded plaque inscribed with the four characters Sắc tứ Bác Ái Tự, signifying universal love without distinction of religion or ethnicity.
Which province and ward does Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda belong to after the 2025 administrative merger?
Prior to July 2025, the pagoda was located in Quyết Thắng ward, Kon Tum city, Kon Tum province. Under Resolution No. 202/2025/QH15 merging Kon Tum and Quảng Ngãi into the new Quảng Ngãi province, and Resolution No. 1677/NQ-UBTVQH15 merging five central wards (Quang Trung, Quyết Thắng, Thắng Lợi, Trường Chinh and Thống Nhất), the pagoda now belongs to Kon Tum ward, Quảng Ngãi province.
How old is the antique bronze bell kept inside Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda?
Bác Ái Pagoda preserves an antique Great Bronze Bell (U Minh bell) weighing over 100 kg, whose cast Chinese inscription dates it to the 8th lunar month of the Bính Tuất year, the 7th year of Emperor Minh Mạng (1826). Nearly two hundred years old, the bell was gifted to the pagoda by the Huế court and senior venerables at its inauguration in 1933.
What architectural style characterizes Sắc tứ Bác Ái Pagoda?
The pagoda exemplifies traditional Huế timber-frame (nhà rường) architecture arranged on an enclosed chữ Môn courtyard plan. Its columns and stacked-beam trusses in the Main Sanctuary were crafted by master artisans from Huế and Bình Định using precious Central Highlands hardwoods such as rosewood (gỗ trắc), purplewood (gỗ tía) and cà chít wood, paired with porcelain-inlaid roof ridges and gate pillars.