Turning in from the village lane, visitors first meet a gate with five openings rather than three, then a small brick bridge spanning a water moat, and only then the triple gate topped by a two-tier, eight-roofed bell tower. Across the brick courtyard stands a seven-bay front hall raised on a three-step terrace. Walking through the entire Buddhist sanctuary does not bring one to the back gate, because another structure awaits behind it, a pavilion built with a two-tier, eight-roofed overlapping-eave (chồng diêm) structure, curved roof blades, and an intricate bracket system (đấu củng).
That innermost pavilion does not worship the Buddha. It is the Saint's Hall (điện Thánh), dedicated to the figure locals revere as Saint Bối (Đức Thánh Bối). This arrangement has a specific name in Vietnamese temple architecture, Buddha in front, Saint in back (tiền Phật hậu Thánh), and it immediately expresses what matters most about this monument, that a Buddhist pagoda and a village saint's shrine stand together under one roof without either encroaching upon the other.
ISaint Bối and the Buddha in front, Saint in back layout
The formal Sino-Vietnamese name of the pagoda is Đại Bi tự, taken from the Buddhist term for great compassion (mahakaruna). Yet visitors from beyond the region remember this site not only for its literary name, but also for the rear pavilion and the saint venerated inside it.
Buddha in front, Saint in back (tiền Phật hậu Thánh) is a distinctive layout of northern Vietnamese pagodas in which the Buddhist sanctuary occupies the front halls and the shrine to a saint occupies the rear halls along the same central axis. That saint is typically a historical monk who practiced at the temple and, after passing away, was venerated by villagers as a tutelary saint and granted imperial decrees by successive dynasties. This spatial arrangement shows how two distinct belief systems worked out their places side by side, with Buddhism holding the doctrinal front halls while the sacred protective cult of the village, tied to rain prayers and communal peace, rests in the more secluded rear sanctuary.
According to the spirit biography (thần tích) and surviving local accounts, Saint Bối was born on the 12th day of the first lunar month in the Tân Tỵ year, 1281, right in Bối Khê village. He entered monastic life at age fifteen, taking the Dharma name Đức Minh, studied under Zen Master Phạm Cốc at Phúc Khê Pagoda, and later became abbot of Tiên Lữ Pagoda, popularly known as Trăm Gian Pagoda (Hundred-Bay Pagoda) in the Chương Mỹ area. The spirit biography records that he erected ritual altars to pray for rain and clear weather with miraculous efficacy around 1306 - 1307, receiving the title True Person Đức Minh (Đức Minh Chân Nhân) from King Trần Anh Tông. According to legend, after he passed away in a wooden palanquin-shrine in his home village, termites built a large mound over his tomb and his spirit repeatedly manifested to protect the country and its people. Following his passing, his native village of Bối Khê and Tiên Lữ village where he served as abbot formed a ritual brotherhood (kết chạ), attending each other's annual festivals in a custom maintained to this day.
The pagoda preserves a stele text from the 11th year of Thái Hòa (1453) titled Bối Động Thánh tích bi ký (re-carved in the 7th year of Thành Thái, 1895) and a stele from the 7th year of Hồng Thuận (1515) recording the biography of Saint Bối and temple restorations, along with twenty-two imperial decrees bestowed across dynasties.
One point must be stated plainly, that the secular name of this saint is recorded differently across official sources, and the library does not arbitrarily pick one side.
Several articles on the portal of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and in Hà Nội Mới newspaper write his name as Nguyễn Đình An. Meanwhile, Nhân Dân newspaper in its report on the special national heritage certificate ceremony, along with Người Hà Nội magazine, Buddhist studies portals, and most translations of the spirit biography, write Nguyễn Bình An. Because the characters Đình and Bình are very close in Sino-Nom script and pronunciation, the library records both variants so readers can cross-reference them.
Another common misconception is assuming Saint Bối is a Buddha or Bodhisattva. He was a historical Zen monk from the village who was revered as a saint after his passing. Placing his altar in the rear pavilion, separate from the Buddhist halls in front, was done precisely to keep that distinction clear.
IIThe 10th year of Khai Hựu milestone and Trần dynasty dating
For most ancient pagodas, the founding date belongs to oral legend. At Bối Khê the situation is different, supported by concrete evidence from stele inscriptions, dated stone carvings, and scientific radiocarbon dating of timber members.
According to ancient stele texts preserved at the pagoda (the Bối Động Thánh tích bi ký stele of the 11th year of Thái Hòa, 1453, and the Đại Bi tự bi ký stele of 1515), in the 10th year of Khai Hựu, 1338, under King Trần Hiến Tông, Princess Thánh Châu (some translations read Thánh Chân) donated money to cast a large bell for Đại Bi Pagoda while Zen Master Nguyễn Quảng Pháp was abbot. Because a pagoda must already exist for a bell to be cast for it, 1338 serves as the latest date by which the temple certainly stood. Remarkably, radiocarbon (C14) analysis of a boat-shaped wooden bracket (đấu thuyền) supporting the ridge beam in the upper sanctuary yielded an age of 640 plus or minus 50 years before present, matching the 1338 Trần dynasty milestone.
In addition, carved directly onto the lotus stone altar in the upper sanctuary is a Chinese inscription dated the 6th year of Xương Phù (1382) under King Trần Phế Đế, recording that a Taoist practitioner from the Quốc Oai region commissioned the stone pedestal and donated it to the pagoda. Across Vietnam only a handful of timber buildings retain structural components from the Trần dynasty, and Bối Khê belongs to that rare group alongside Dâu Pagoda in Bắc Ninh and Thái Lạc Pagoda in Hưng Yên. At all three sites, what survives from the Trần period is not an entire untouched building, but original wooden brackets, beams, and stone pedestals preserved through later restorations and integrated into Lê and Nguyễn dynasty timber frames.
- 1281Birth of Saint BốiAccording to the spirit biography, the Zen master venerated in the rear sanctuary was born in Bối Khê village on the 12th day of the first lunar month in the Tân Tỵ year, later ordaining under the Dharma name Đức Minh.
- 133810th year of Khai Hựu milestoneAncient stele inscriptions record that Princess Thánh Châu donated funds to cast a temple bell in this year, matching the C14 date of the wooden bracket in the upper sanctuary. The 1338 bell itself was later lost in wartime.
- 1382Creation of the Trần lotus stone altarThe lotus stone pedestal (Phật thạch bàn) in the upper sanctuary bears an inscription dated the 6th year of Xương Phù (1382), with mythical Garuda birds carved at its four corners alongside Trần-style wooden eaves brackets.
- 1453 and 1515Early Lê stele inscriptionsThe Bối Động Thánh tích bi ký stele of the 11th year of Thái Hòa (1453, re-carved in 1895) and the Đại Bi tự bi ký stele of the 7th year of Hồng Thuận (1515) record the biography of Saint Bối and major restorations.
- 16th centuryMạc dynasty statues and carved bricksThe pagoda preserves a Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara statue, a pair of stone mythical beasts (sấu đá), stone lamp stands, and relief bricks from the Mạc period, attesting to a major 16th-century restoration.
- 1694 - 19th centuryBuilding of the Saint's Hall and Lê - Nguyễn restorationsAn inscription on the tie beam of the Saint's Sanctuary records that the Saint's Hall was built in the 15th year of Chính Hòa (1694) and repaired in 1766 and 1783. Under the Nguyễn dynasty, two bronze bells were cast in the 4th year of Thiệu Trị (1844) and the 2nd year of Duy Tân (1908).
- 1979National heritage siteThe pagoda was designated a national architectural and artistic heritage site under Decision No. 54-VHTT/QĐ dated April 29, 1979.
- 2025Special national heritage siteBối Khê Pagoda was designated a special national heritage site under Decision No. 152/QĐ-TTg dated January 17, 2025, with the certificate ceremony held on February 7, 2025.
IIIFive-portal gate, Saint's Hall, and the lotus stone altar
The pagoda is built in the inner-Công outer-Quốc (nội công ngoại quốc) layout, where the central halls form an I-shape while two long side corridors and rear structures enclose a rectangular outer frame. The main axis runs from the five-portal outer gate (ngũ môn), across the brick bridge and the triple-gate bell tower, through the front hall (tiền đường), incense-burning hall (thiêu hương), and upper sanctuary (thượng điện), then connects past the sutra pavilion to the Saint's Hall (điện Thánh) built with curved front blades and a gabled rear wall (tiền đao hậu đốc). The entire axis faces west, departing from the south-facing orientation favored by most northern Vietnamese pagodas.
The outer gate opens through five portals instead of the usual three, leading across a small brick bridge over a water moat into the temple courtyard.
Built in a two-tier, eight-roofed overlapping-eave style with curved blades. Inside the upper loft hang two bronze bells cast under the Nguyễn dynasty, one in the 4th year of Thiệu Trị (1844) and one in the 2nd year of Duy Tân (1908).
A seven-bay front hall raised on a three-step terrace leads to a higher upper sanctuary preserving Trần dynasty wooden carvings of dragons, carp turning into dragons, apsaras, and mythical Garuda birds on the eaves brackets.
Two parallel seventeen-bay corridors forming the outer frame from the front hall to the end of the Saint's Hall, displaying statues of the Eighteen Arhats (Thập Bát La Hán) and the Ten Kings of Hell (Thập Điện Diêm Vương).
The innermost sanctuary dedicated to Saint Bối, erected in the 15th year of Chính Hòa (1694) with a two-tier, eight-roofed overlapping-eave structure, seven stacked-beam trusses, and intricate đấu củng brackets.
A Trần dynasty blue-stone pedestal inscribed in the 6th year of Xương Phù (1382), measuring 1.53 meters long, 1.04 meters wide, and 1.60 meters high on a 0.14-meter base, carved with lotus petals, dragons, lions, and Garuda birds.
The most celebrated artifacts of the pagoda are the 1382 lotus stone altar and the wooden Garuda bird figures carved at the ends of the roof brackets (đầu bẩy). Garuda is the mythical bird of Indian tradition that entered Đại Việt art during the Lý and Trần dynasties, depicted raising both hands to support a lotus throne or the sanctuary eaves. That a village pagoda in the Red River delta preserves wooden Garuda bracket carvings alongside Trần dragon brackets provides invaluable material evidence for the history of early Vietnamese timber architecture.
The Buddhist sanctuary currently houses fifty-eight statues of various sizes. Resting directly atop the Trần dynasty lotus stone altar is a lacquered and gilded wooden statue of Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara (Quan Âm thiên thủ thiên nhãn) in 16th - 17th century style, standing 2.53 meters tall including its wooden base (art-historical descriptions in Người Hà Nội magazine note that the statue has seven pairs of large hands, or fourteen hands, whereas some press articles call it a twelve-armed Avalokiteshvara). At the base of the pedestal stand a pair of stone mythical beasts dated 1582 and a pair of stone lamp stands dated 1685. Together, these artifacts span continuously from the 14th to the 19th century, showing a temple cared for without interruption across nearly seven hundred years.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional feng shui, not content recorded on stone steles or in official heritage dossiers. The library notes this explicitly so visitors can distinguish documentary records from geomantic interpretation.
The pagoda sits on a raised mound at the head of the village beside the ancient channel of the Đỗ Động River. In lowland geomancy, where there are no mountains to lean against, an earthen mound rising above the surrounding rice paddies serves that anchoring role, while the ancient river channel guides qi. The water moat and small brick bridge in front of the triple gate are more than a walkway, forming a ring of water gathering (thủy tụ) around the temple front that marks the threshold between outside and inside.
The most notable feature here is its westward orientation. Most temples and communal houses in northern Vietnam face south to catch cool summer breezes and block cold winter winds, so facing west is a deliberate choice. Traditional reading offers two explanations. First, in Buddhist cosmology the west is the direction of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Tây Phương Cực Lạc), so facing west orients the temple toward the realm practitioners aspire to reach. Second, in terms of local topography, a village pagoda often aligns with the lie of the land, the curve of the ancient Đỗ Động River, and the surrounding village lanes.
Regarding spatial layout, the central axis is extended by an extra tier compared to ordinary pagodas. In a standard pagoda, the upper sanctuary marks the end of the ritual axis. At Bối Khê another pavilion rises behind it, built taller, with more roof tiers and more elaborate bracketry than the front halls. In classical geomancy, a longitudinal axis channels qi deeper inward, becoming more secluded and sacred toward the rear, so placing the Saint's Hall at the very end sets it right on the node (huyệt vị) of the entire site. This matches village religious life, where the sacred presence most intimately bound to the community is Saint Bối.
Finally, there is the bond with a partner site. Bối Khê does not stand alone, but maintains a ritual brotherhood (kết chạ) with Tiên Lữ village, home to Trăm Gian Pagoda, with villagers traveling back and forth to attend each other's festivals every year. In traditional thought, two communities venerating the same saint and walking between the two temples year after year form a paired circuit, linking the vein of the saint's birthplace with the vein of the monastery where he served as abbot. Reading the lie of the land at Bối Khê without considering its partner across the fields tells only half the story.
VFirst lunar month festival and the village brotherhood custom
The Bối Khê Pagoda festival takes place in the first lunar month, with the main festival day falling on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the birth date associated with Saint Bối rather than a general Buddhist holiday. This is the clearest sign that the cult of the saint sets the rhythm of the village's spring festival.
| Lunar date | Ritual | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 4th day of the 1st lunar month | Trăm Gian Pagoda Festival | Tiên Lữ village holds its festival at Trăm Gian Pagoda, which also venerates Saint Bối. Bối Khê villagers send a delegation to attend under the ritual brotherhood (kết chạ) custom. |
| 10th day of the 1st lunar month | Festival opening | Records of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports state that the Bối Khê Pagoda festival runs from the 10th to the 12th of the first lunar month, opening with statue cleansing (bao sái) and incense offerings. |
| 11th day of the 1st lunar month | Procession and ritual offering | Palanquin procession around the village and ceremonial rites at the Saint's Hall. The delegation from brother village Tiên Lữ arrives, with members of the two villages addressing each other by the traditional kinship titles of elder and younger brothers. |
| 12th day of the 1st lunar month | Main festival day | The most important day, featuring the grand ritual offering at the Saint's Hall, incense offerings in the Buddhist halls, traditional rain-prayer rites, and village folk games. |
| 1st and 15th of every lunar month | Twice-monthly services | Regular new-moon and full-moon observances with incense offered in both the Buddhist sanctuary and the Saint's Hall. |
Ritual brotherhood (kết chạ) is an ancient custom in which two villages pledge fraternal kinship, historically refraining from intermarriage and addressing one another by village seniority rather than personal age. Here that custom has a clear historical root, as one village is the saint's birthplace and the other is where he practiced and served as abbot. The festivals of the two temples thus link together into a continuous festive season spanning the first half of the first lunar month.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Thôn Song Khê (làng Bối Khê cũ), xã Tam Hưng, thành phố Hà Nội
- Getting there
- The pagoda is located in Song Khê village (former Bối Khê village), Tam Hưng commune, Hanoi, formerly part of Thanh Oai district, about twenty kilometers southwest of downtown Hanoi. Visitors on the same route can also visit Trăm Gian Pagoda in the Chương Mỹ area, the ritual brother village of Bối Khê.
- Coordinates
- 20.8813, 105.7873
Because this is an active place of worship, temple etiquette applies. Visitors are reminded to dress modestly, remove hats when entering interior halls, walk and speak quietly inside the Saint's Hall, and never touch the 1382 lotus stone altar or the ancient wooden carvings. The two side corridors housing the Arhat statues are narrow, so please walk in a single direction. During the first lunar month festival, palanquin processions cross the courtyard, so please yield the way to the palanquins.
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?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Bối Khê Pagoda
The pagoda is located in Song Khê village (former Bối Khê village), Tam Hưng commune, Hanoi, and follows the 'Buddha in front, Saint in back' (tiền Phật hậu Thánh) layout. The front halls worship the Buddha according to Northern Buddhism, while the rear Saint's Hall venerates Saint Bối (Đức Thánh Bối), a Zen master born in Bối Khê village in 1281 who later became abbot of Trăm Gian Pagoda. The compound also includes a Mother Goddess altar and a shrine to the Venerable Benefactor (Đức Ông).
What was the real name of Saint Bối
Official sources differ. Several articles on the portal of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports write Nguyễn Đình An, whereas Nhân Dân newspaper, Người Hà Nội magazine, and most translations of the spirit biography write Nguyễn Bình An. Because the characters Đình and Bình are close in Chinese script, the library records both variants for reference.
When was Bối Khê Pagoda built
The earliest documented milestone is 1338 (the 10th year of Khai Hựu under King Trần Hiến Tông), recorded in the pagoda's ancient stele texts regarding Princess Thánh Châu donating money to cast a bell, which also matches the radiocarbon (C14) date (640 plus or minus 50 years) of a wooden bracket in the upper sanctuary. In addition, the lotus stone altar in the upper sanctuary bears an inscription dated the 6th year of Xương Phù (1382).
What survives from the Trần dynasty at Bối Khê Pagoda
The pagoda preserves the 1382 lotus stone altar carved with lotus petals, dragons, lions, and mythical Garuda birds at its four corners, along with wooden dragon carvings and Garuda figures at the ends of the upper sanctuary eaves brackets. It is one of the very few pagodas in Vietnam that still retain Trần dynasty timber structural members and a dated Trần stone pedestal, alongside Dâu Pagoda and Thái Lạc Pagoda.
When does the Bối Khê Pagoda festival take place
The festival takes place in the first lunar month from the 10th to the 12th, with the main day on the 12th day of the first lunar month commemorating the birth of Saint Bối. Bối Khê village maintains a ritual brotherhood (kết chạ) with Tiên Lữ village, home to Trăm Gian Pagoda, and the two villages attend each other's festivals, with the Tiên Lữ festival opening on the 4th day of the first lunar month.