Turn off National Highway 1A in the Gò Dưa area and follow a small alley to the end, and you step into a compound of more than two hectares shaded by ancient dipterocarp trees (cây dầu). The resident monks wear turmeric-saffron robes with the right shoulder bare, chanting scriptures in Pali before explaining them in Vietnamese. There is no statue of Guanyin (Quan Âm) and no altar to Dharma Protectors, and on the main pedestal sits Buddha Shakyamuni alone.
This is Bửu Quang Pagoda, known in Pali as Ratanaramsyarama. In 1938 this place was only a thatched temple roof amid a dipterocarp forest. Two years later, on April 15, 1940, the pagoda held its Sima boundary consecration ceremony, and from that day onward Vietnamese practitioners of the Theravada tradition had for the first time a sacred boundary of their own in which to confer bhikkhu ordination. That is why members of the tradition call Bửu Quang their ancestral monastery (tổ đình).
IThe ancestral monastery of Vietnamese Theravada
Vietnamese Theravada Buddhism (Phật Giáo Nam Tông Kinh) is the Theravada tradition practiced by the Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese majority), also called Original Buddhism (Phật Giáo Nguyên Thủy). This movement took shape in southern Vietnam in the late 1930s, when a group of Vietnamese lay Buddhists encountered the Pali Tipitaka through Khmer monks and resolved to build a monastery where Vietnamese people could practice that tradition in their mother tongue. That monastery was Bửu Quang.
The two key figures behind the effort were Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hiểu, a construction overseer, and Mr. Lê Văn Giảng, a veterinarian. On October 15, 1940, Mr. Giảng was ordained at Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh under the Deputy Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, Most Venerable Samdech Chuon Nath, receiving the Dharma name Hộ Tông (Pali name Vansarakkhita), and served as abbot of Bửu Quang from 1940 to 1944. Prior to him, the first bhikkhu to serve as abbot of Bửu Quang, starting in 1939, was Venerable Thiện Luật. This article records these masters solely by their work in building the monastery and practicing the Dharma, without listing organizational titles.
Theravada means the Teaching of the Elders. This tradition upholds the Pali Tipitaka as its foundational canon, observes bhikkhu monastic discipline according to the Pali Vinaya, and venerates only Buddha Shakyamuni in the main shrine. Practitioners pursue liberation through the threefold training of moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom, with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Tứ Niệm Xứ) as the primary meditation method.
Keeping strictly to that monastic code, Theravada monks eat one or two meals a day before noon, go on alms rounds to receive food offered by the laity, do not cook in their quarters, and wear saffron robes wrapped in the Theravada style. Those practices are shared by both Vietnamese Theravada (Nam Tông Kinh) and Khmer Theravada (Nam Tông Khmer).
How Vietnamese Theravada and Khmer Theravada differ. Both branches share the Pali canon, the same monastic discipline, and the same robes, yet they form two distinct communities with different histories. Khmer Theravada is the age-old tradition of the Khmer people of southern Vietnam, where each temple is bound up with its village community (phum sóc), sermons are given in Khmer, and roofs rise in multi-tiered spires. Vietnamese Theravada took shape only from 1938 onward, its monastics and lay followers are ethnic Vietnamese, sermons and translated chants are in Vietnamese, and its early monasteries were concentrated in Saigon and southeastern Vietnam before spreading to the central region.
The meeting point of the two branches lies right at the beginning, when the Sima consecration ceremony at Bửu Quang on April 15, 1940 was presided over by the Deputy Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, Most Venerable Samdech Chuon Nath, together with thirty Khmer bhikkhus from Phnom Penh, who also planted a sacred Bodhi tree gifted by the King of Cambodia. Readers wishing to learn more about the Khmer tradition may consult the Kh'leang Pagoda article.
On generational transmission verses. Mahayana Linji (Lâm Tế) lineages assign Dharma names according to a generational verse, where each character in the poem marks a generation. Theravada does not follow that custom. A Theravada bhikkhu's Dharma name is a Pali name given by his preceptor at ordination, which Vietnamese monastics pair with a Vietnamese translation of its meaning, such as Hộ Tông for Vansarakkhita. Consequently, there is no generational poem to record at Bửu Quang, and lineage succession is traced through ordination preceptors rather than generational characters.
The first common misconception is that visitors see saffron robes and hear Pali chanting and assume Bửu Quang is a Khmer temple. It is not, as it is a monastery of ethnic Vietnamese practicing Theravada Buddhism. The second misconception is calling Theravada by the label Hinayana (Tiểu Thừa, Lesser Vehicle). That term was coined in Mahayana polemical texts in contrast to Mahayana, and practitioners within the tradition do not use it for themselves. They refer to their tradition as Theravada, Nam Tông (Southern Tradition), or Phật Giáo Nguyên Thủy (Original Buddhism).
IIFrom a thatched temple to an ancestral monastery
The monastery land was originally a dipterocarp forest in Gò Dưa requested from bà Cả, mother of village chief Bùi Ngươn Hứa, and according to the monastery's chronicle, it was donated under the nominal form of a sale for one silver piastre. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hiểu and his associates Nguyễn Văn Quyến and Văn Công Hương cleared more than two hectares of woods and put up a thatched temple and eight stilt-house meditation huts. On the full moon of the tenth lunar month in 1938, the pagoda held its Buddha-enshrining ceremony, a date the sect reckons as the founding of the first Vietnamese Theravada monastery.
In 1940 Mr. Hiểu sold his private house to fund the rebuilding of the temple in brick and tile. The inauguration ceremony and the Sima consecration were held on the same day, April 15, 1940. In 1947 the first brick-and-tile temple suffered heavy damage, after which the rebuilt main hall was inaugurated alongside a relic-enshrining ceremony on November 22, 1953. The monastery underwent further renovations in 1981, 1996, and several times from 2000 onward.
- 1938Building the thatched templeMr. Nguyễn Văn Hiểu and Mr. Lê Văn Giảng established the temple in the dipterocarp forest at Gò Dưa, consisting of a thatched main shrine and eight stilt meditation huts. The Buddha statue was enshrined on the full moon of the tenth lunar month.
- 1939First resident abbotBhikkhu Thiện Luật arrived as abbot, becoming the first bhikkhu to oversee the temple.
- 1940Inauguration and Sima consecrationOn April 15, the new brick-and-tile temple held its inauguration, Sima boundary consecration, and the planting of a Bodhi tree gifted by the King of Cambodia, witnessed by Deputy Supreme Patriarch Samdech Chuon Nath and thirty Khmer bhikkhus. On October 15 of the same year, Mr. Lê Văn Giảng was ordained in Phnom Penh with the Dharma name Hộ Tông.
- 1953Rebuilding the main hall and enshrining relicsAfter the 1940 temple building was heavily damaged in 1947, lay Buddhists rebuilt the main hall and celebrated its inauguration and relic enshrinement on November 22, 1953.
- 2007Recognition as the first monasteryThe Vietnam Book of Records recognized Bửu Quang as the first Theravada monastery in Vietnam, adding a further recognition in 2016 as the first Vietnamese Theravada (Nam Tông Kinh) monastery.
- 2008Lecture hall and libraryOn October 26, the Abhidhamma Lecture Hall and a library of over nine thousand titles were inaugurated.
- 2014Two-story stupaInauguration of the two-story stupa venerating portraits of senior monks, founding laypeople, eight-precept nuns, and lay Buddhists.
- 2017Buddha PlazaBetween 2017 and 2019, the Buddha Plaza was renovated with stupas, a Reclining Buddha statue, and a Bodhi tree enclosure in Thai architectural style.
Discrepancies among sources regarding land area. The chronicle on phatgiaonguyenthuy.com records that the pagoda was granted a land-use certificate on October 26, 2017 for an area of 21,488.7 square meters. The Đạo Phật Ngày Nay website states the grounds cover more than three hectares. Chốn Thiêng notes that Mr. Hiểu's group initially cleared more than two mẫu (hectares). Because the three figures reflect three different periods and ways of reckoning, the library records all three. The name of the village chief whose family donated the land is also written in two ways, Bùi Ngươn Hứa and Bùi Luân Hứa.
IIIArchitecture and monastic grounds
The 1940 brick-and-tile temple was built in a hybrid style that, according to a study by researcher Phạm Hoài Nhân, blended Khmer, Western, and Chinese architectural elements. Later scholars view it as the starting point of a distinct Vietnamese Theravada temple architecture, neither copying Khmer wats outright nor following the mold of northern Mahayana pagodas. After suffering heavy damage in 1947, the main hall was rebuilt in 1953 and renovated and widened in 2010 to measure 22 meters wide by 15 meters long.
The main hall is where formal sangha acts (tăng sự) such as ordination and Patimokkha recitation take place, standing within the Sima boundary consecrated in 1940. The altar enshrines only Buddha Shakyamuni, without Bodhisattva statues.
Inaugurated in 2014, where its upper floor honors portraits of venerable monks and founding lay benefactors, its middle floor enshrines portraits and ashes of eight-precept nuns (tu nữ) and lay Buddhists, and its ground floor serves as a funeral hall.
Inaugurated in 2008 and named after the Abhidhamma (Higher Teaching), the third basket of the Pali Tipitaka, accompanied by a library of more than nine thousand books.
Renovated from 2017 to 2019, featuring stupas, a statue of the Buddha entering Parinirvana, and a Bodhi tree enclosure built in Thai architectural style.
Continuing the tradition of the eight original stilt meditation huts, the compound includes monks' quarters and a thirty-five-room nuns' residence built in 2003.
What stands out at Bửu Quang is not any single building so much as the proportion between open land and structures. Across more than two hectares, buildings occupy only a small fraction while the rest is given over to tall dipterocarp trees and shaded walkways. That arrangement suits Theravada practice, where monastics need quiet paths for walking meditation (kinh hành) and separate huts for solitary contemplation.
Many people passing along National Highway 1A assume the tall stupa and Buddha Plaza are the oldest parts of the pagoda. In fact, they are the newest additions, built from 2014 onward. The part carrying the original historical meaning is the main hall within the Sima boundary, where the 1940 consecration took place, even though the building itself was rebuilt in 1953 and renovated several times since.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional geomancy (phong thủy), not something recorded in the pagoda's chronicle or texts. Theravada Buddhism has no tradition of selecting sites by geomancy, and the library has found no source suggesting the founders surveyed or oriented the ground by geomantic rules. Because the compass orientation of the main hall is not recorded in published sources, the library does not state one on its own. What follows is simply a comparative reading for readers familiar with traditional Vietnamese land-reading.
The place name speaks first through the words Gò Dưa (Melon Mound). The former Thủ Đức area is a belt of low mounds and hills lying between the Saigon River and the Đồng Nai River, noticeably higher than the low-lying rice fields to the south. In the traditional land-reading of the southern delta, a mound (gò) is dry, firm ground safe from seasonal flooding, which is why people have always chosen mounds to raise houses, communal halls, and pagodas. Bửu Quang stands on just such a rise.
Second is the dipterocarp forest (rừng dầu). The pagoda began in the middle of a dipterocarp wood, and to this day the compound preserves many ancient dipterocarp trees. In traditional geomancy, dense trees hold qi, buffer the wind, and keep the ground cool. In Theravada practice, the forest is the classic setting for contemplation, as the Pali scriptures recount that the Buddha and his early disciples lived largely in woods and groves outside city walls. Here those two ways of seeing meet on the same ground.
Third is the setback from the main road. The pagoda sits tucked inside an alley rather than directly on the highway frontage. Traditional geomancy regards a busy road rushing straight at a gate as unfavorable, whereas a winding approach with a buffer zone allows qi to enter slowly and settle. The alley leading into Bửu Quang provides that buffer, separating the roar of traffic on the highway from the stillness of the main hall.
VObservances and monastic practice
The ritual calendar at Bửu Quang follows the lunar-based holy days of Theravada Buddhism. At this pagoda specifically, according to phatgiaonguyenthuy.com, major annual ceremonies are regularly scheduled on the 14th day of the lunar month (such as the 14th of the 1st month, the 14th of the 4th month for Vesak, the 14th of the 6th month for the rain-cloth offering, the 14th of the 7th month for the start of the rains retreat and Vu Lan, the 20th of the 9th month for the close of the rains retreat and the Kathina robe offering, and the 24th of the 12th month for the ancestral ashes memorial). Alongside major festivals, everyday life at the pagoda revolves around chanting scriptures, practicing meditation, and studying the Abhidhamma in the lecture hall.
| Lunar date | Observance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Full moon of the 1st month (held on the 14th) | Magha Puja (Fourfold Assembly Day) | Commemorates the spontaneous gathering of 1,250 Arhats before the Buddha, when he expounded the Ovada-Patimokkha. |
| Full moon of the 4th month (held on the 14th) | Vesak (Triple Blessing Day) | Celebrates the Birth, Enlightenment, and Parinirvana of the Buddha, the principal annual holy day of Theravada Buddhism. |
| Full moon of the 6th month (held on the 14th) | Asalha Puja and Rain-Cloth Offering | Commemorates the Buddha's first discourse at the Deer Park and the offering of rain-bathing cloths before the monsoon. |
| Full moon of the 7th month (held on the 14th) | Vu Lan and Rains Retreat | At Bửu Quang, the filial piety observance of Vu Lan is held alongside the opening of the monastic rains retreat. |
| 9th to 10th month (held on the 20th of the 9th month) | End of Rains Retreat and Kathina Robe Offering | Monks conclude the rains retreat and laypeople offer Kathina robes. Near year's end, on the 24th of the 12th month, the pagoda holds a memorial for enshrined ashes. |
One custom particular to Vietnamese Theravada is worth noting, namely that daily liturgical chants are recited first in Pali and then chanted again in Vietnamese translation. Vietnamese Buddhists attending a Theravada temple can therefore understand what they are chanting, fulfilling the very aim that the founders of Bửu Quang set out in 1938.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 171/10 quốc lộ 1A, khu Gò Dưa, phường Tam Bình (phường Bình Chiểu cũ, thành phố Thủ Đức cũ), Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
- Getting there
- The pagoda lies inside Alley 171 off National Highway 1A in the Gò Dưa area, Tam Bình Ward, about thirteen kilometers northeast as the crow flies from Kỳ Viên Pagoda in downtown Saigon.
- Coordinates
- 10.8733, 106.7379
Because a Theravada monastery observes the Pali bhikkhu discipline, a few customs differ from those of Mahayana pagodas. The monks take their meal before noon, so visitors wishing to offer food should arrive in the morning. Under monastic discipline, women do not touch monks directly and instead place offerings on a receiving cloth or set them down in front. Remove your shoes before entering the main hall, dress modestly, and do not enter the zone of individual meditation huts unless invited.
Nearby places in the library
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?Quick Questions
Which Buddhist tradition does Bửu Quang Pagoda in Gò Dưa belong to
It belongs to Vietnamese Theravada Buddhism (Phật Giáo Nam Tông Kinh), the Theravada tradition practiced by ethnic Vietnamese, also called Original Buddhism (Phật Giáo Nguyên Thủy). Built in 1938 with its Sima boundary consecrated in 1940, it is the first monastery of this branch. It does not belong to Khmer Theravada Buddhism, although both share the Pali canon and monastic discipline.
How does Vietnamese Theravada differ from Khmer Theravada
Both follow the Pali Tipitaka, the same Vinaya rules, and the same saffron robes. The difference lies in community and history, since Khmer Theravada is the centuries-old tradition of the Khmer people, taught in Khmer and centered on village wats, whereas Vietnamese Theravada formed from 1938 onward among ethnic Vietnamese, with sermons and translated chants in Vietnamese.
Who founded Bửu Quang Pagoda
It was founded in 1938 by Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hiểu, a construction overseer, and Mr. Lê Văn Giảng, a veterinarian. On October 15, 1940, Mr. Giảng was ordained in Phnom Penh with the Dharma name Hộ Tông. The first bhikkhu to serve as abbot, starting in 1939, was Venerable Thiện Luật. The land was donated by the family of bà Cả in Gò Dưa.
What is a Sima boundary consecration
A Sima is a consecrated ritual boundary established by the sangha, within which formal monastic acts such as bhikkhu ordination and Patimokkha recitation may validly be performed. The Sima consecration at Bửu Quang on April 15, 1940, presided over by Cambodia's Deputy Supreme Patriarch Samdech Chuon Nath and thirty Khmer bhikkhus, marked the first time the Vietnamese Theravada sangha had an ordination boundary of its own.
How do Bửu Quang Pagoda and Kỳ Viên Pagoda differ
Both belong to Vietnamese Theravada Buddhism and both bear the mark of Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hiểu. Bửu Quang is the root temple, the first monastery and the site of the first Sima boundary, located in the mound country of former Thủ Đức. Kỳ Viên Pagoda was established in 1947 in downtown Saigon as a center for Dharma propagation and for enshrining Buddha relics.