The path up to the pagoda is a steep forest trail following a mountain stream for about four kilometers from the foot of the mountain. At the top of the climb you come out onto a level shelf at an elevation of about 650 meters, where the pagoda stands with low roofs of dark tile leaning against the rock face, tall trees overhead and mist often lingering through the morning. Looking down, the Hà Tĩnh plain stretches out to the sea, and all around rise the other peaks of the Hồng Lĩnh range.
Writers of earlier centuries ranked this place as Hoan Châu đệ nhất danh lam, the foremost scenic site of the land of Hoan Châu, and counted it among the twenty-one famous landscapes of old Vietnam. Yet the name Hương Tích, meaning fragrant trace, is what causes this pagoda to be mentioned alongside another famous temple in the north. The two places share the same name and worship the same bodhisattva, yet they are two distinct sites. The library explains that relationship right in this article.
IThe name Hương Tích and the legend of Diệu Thiện
The two words Hương Tích mean fragrant trace, the mark left behind by someone who passed through and left a lingering scent. The full Sino-Vietnamese name of the temple is Hương Tích Tự, and local records also call it Hương Tích Cổ Tự (Ancient Hương Tích Pagoda). The fragrant trace recalled by the name is tied both to the legend of Princess Diệu Thiện and to a Trần-dynasty account on Mount Hồng Lĩnh.
The temple legend relates that Diệu Thiện was the third daughter of King Zhuang of Chu (Sở Trang Vương), ruler of the ancient state of Chu. Forced by her father into marriage, she fled and traveled a long way to this mountain range to practice asceticism. Later, when her royal father fell gravely ill, she offered her own eyes and arms as medicine to save him. Moved by her filial devotion, the Buddha restored her eyes and arms. She eventually attained enlightenment and transformed into Guanyin (Quan Âm), and local tellings connect this with the form of Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin. The geographical treatise Thiên Lộc huyện Phong Thủy cổ chí, compiled in 1811 by the doctoral laureate Lưu Công Đạo, already recorded a stone rampart around the summit, ninety-nine stone platforms known by tradition as the Trang Vương foundations (nền Trang Vương), the Quan Âm hermitage in the center, the Buddha pagoda on the right and the temple of Hồng Sơn Đại Vương on the left.
It should be stated clearly that the story above belongs to sacred legend (thần tích), a layer of folk transmission rather than annalistic history. Alongside the Diệu Thiện legend, a study in the Buddhist Studies Review (Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Phật học) records a second tradition about the name of the pagoda. In the Trần dynasty, an old ascetic monk built a hermitage on Mount Hồng Lĩnh, often descending to gather herbs to heal local people and teach them farming. When he passed away seated in meditation on a rock, the scent of sandalwood filled the mountain and the imprint of his body remained on the stone. Retired Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, hearing the story during a southern tour, ordered a pagoda built on the site of the old hermitage and named it Hương Tích Tự in memory of the fragrance and the stone trace. The two accounts do not exclude each other, showing instead that local memory has preserved the site through overlapping layers of tradition.
In Buddhist teaching, Avalokiteśvara (Quán Thế Âm) is the Bodhisattva of compassion who hears the cries of suffering in the world and comes to save, as the title itself means the one who perceives the sounds of the world. Originally depicted in male form in Indian scriptures, the bodhisattva gradually took on female form along the path into East Asia. The legend of Diệu Thiện is one of the great narratives of that transformation, telling of a daughter with parents, a grievance and filial devotion who practiced the way and became a bodhisattva. The Vietnamese also have a second major narrative, that of Quan Âm Thị Kính, bearing a different grievance. On Mount Hồng Lĩnh the Diệu Thiện narrative is held so closely that nearly every spot in the complex bears a name drawn from her story.
This is the point most often misunderstood about the site, and it is best stated in terms of historical evidence.
Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh and the Perfume Pagoda (chùa Hương) in Hanoi are two different pagodas, not one. One stands on the Hồng Lĩnh mountain range in Hà Tĩnh at an elevation of about 650 meters. The other lies in the Hương Sơn limestone mountains of Hanoi, reached first by boat along the Yến Stream and then by climbing up to the cave. They are two separate complexes, with two festival seasons and two different collections of artifacts. They resemble each other in only two respects, namely that both worship Avalokiteśvara and both bear the name Hương Tích because each has a rock cave of that name.
There is a theory that the northern Perfume Pagoda took its name and legend from here. The argument rests on several points. First is chronology, since Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh is recorded as founded in the 13th century under the Trần dynasty, whereas the Perfume Pagoda complex in Hanoi is recorded as built between 1680 and 1704, several centuries later. Second is historical circumstance, according to the account that officials and royal consorts from Nghệ Tĩnh serving in the capital Thăng Long kept the custom of returning home to worship at Hương Tích Pagoda, and because the journey back was long and arduous, they sought a place with similar mountain and cave terrain near the capital to establish a pagoda of the same name and legend. A recent study in the Buddhist Studies Review and on the Buddhist information portal presents this view, calling the northern temple a replica inspired by the pagoda on Mount Hồng Lĩnh.
Where that theory remains unproven. To date no contemporary document has been found recording the founding of the northern Perfume Pagoda as a transfer from Hà Tĩnh. The entire argument rests on comparing dates, shared names and oral accounts. The author of the study cited above also notes that differing views remain around this question and that surviving historical records at Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh are scarce due to past fires. One further caution is that the 13th-century date of this pagoda likewise comes from oral tradition and late records, while the buildings standing on the mountain today belong to the early 20th-century reconstruction.
The library therefore records this view as a theory, stating both its strong points and its gaps without drawing a final conclusion. Readers may also consult the page on the Perfume Pagoda to see the northern complex and compare the two sites.
IISeven hundred years on Mount Hồng Lĩnh
The history of the pagoda falls into two parts separated by a fire. The earlier part is that of an ancient temple from the Trần dynasty, maintained and repaired by later generations. The later part begins in 1885, when the pagoda burned down, and continues from its rebuilding in 1901 onward.
- 13th centuryFounded in the Trần dynastyThe pagoda is recorded as built in the Trần period, around the 13th century, placing it in the same chronological layer as Yên Tử. This date comes from oral tradition and local records rather than contemporary documents.
- Lê and Nguyễn erasForemost scenic site of Hoan ChâuLiterati across dynasties ranked the pagoda as the foremost scenic site of Hoan Châu and counted it among the twenty-one famous landscapes of old Vietnam, and under the Nguyễn dynasty its image was cast onto the Anh Urn (Anh Đỉnh) among the Nine Dynastic Urns in front of Thế Miếu in the Huế Imperial City.
- 1885Destroyed by fireThe pagoda was destroyed by fire in this year, around the same time as Thiên Tượng Pagoda on the Hồng Lĩnh range. All of the old timber structures were lost then.
- 1901Rebuilt under Đào TấnThe pagoda was rebuilt under the supervision and fundraising of Đào Tấn, then Governor-General of An Tĩnh and a renowned classical drama playwright. Most of the main structures seen today belong to this building phase.
- 1990National heritage siteThe pagoda complex was ranked as a national cultural and scenic heritage site under Decision No. 309/QĐ-BVHTT of the Ministry of Culture and Information.
- 2003 and 2006Two rounds of restorationTwo successive restoration rounds took place, with the work from 2006 onward restoring smaller shrines and improving the pilgrimage route up the mountain.
Several points where the sources differ should be noted. Regarding the mountain peak, one source places the pagoda on Mount Hương Tích, one of the seven finest peaks of the Hồng Lĩnh range, while another simply calls it one of the ninety-nine peaks of the range. Regarding the casting of the pagoda's image onto the Anh Urn in Huế, the Hà Tĩnh New Rural Development Portal notes that the scene was cast onto the Anh Urn at Thế Miếu in Huế (which was cast under Emperor Minh Mạng between 1835 and 1837), whereas Đại Đoàn Kết newspaper writes that King Bảo Đại had the scene engraved onto the Anh Urn in 1936. Regarding area, one article states that the heritage zone covers about one thousand nine hundred hectares, which is the area of the protected forest landscape rather than the building footprint. Regarding artifacts in the Three Jewels Hall (điện Tam Bảo), the Hà Tĩnh New Rural Development Portal and Hà Tĩnh Newspaper record fifty-four ancient wooden statues dating back hundreds of years, while Đại Đoàn Kết newspaper records fifty ancient Buddha statues, alongside two bronze Buddha statues, three ancient bronze bells and a rare cast-iron Nine Dragons (Cửu Long) relief.
IIIThe mountain complex and points along the trail
The first thing to grasp is that this is not a single standalone temple but a complex strung along a mountain trail. Heritage records divide the complex into three main sections, namely the Upper Hall (thượng điện), the Heavenly King Temple (đền Thiên Vương) and the Holy Mother Hermitage (am Thánh Mẫu). Beyond those three sections lie many smaller shrines along the path, each with its own name, most of them drawn from the legend of Diệu Thiện.
The main worship area high on the slope, housing the Three Jewels Hall with more than fifty ancient wooden statues (sources record 50 or 54 statues) along with bronze artifacts and a cast-iron Nine Dragons sculpture. The surviving buildings belong to the early 20th-century reconstruction under Governor-General Đào Tấn.
Local records state that this temple worships Hồng Sơn Đại Vương, the tutelary deity of the mountain range itself. A spirit temple standing right inside the pagoda grounds reflects the multi-layered worship familiar in Vietnam, with the Buddha in the main hall and the mountain god in a separate shrine beside it.
According to the temple legend, the Holy Mother Hermitage (am Thánh Mẫu) marks the spot where Princess Diệu Thiện practiced asceticism and transformed into Guanyin, closing the story recalled by the pagoda's name.
A rock cavern in the mountain that gave its name to the entire pagoda. According to the legend, this is where Diệu Thiện sheltered and meditated after leaving home. It should be distinguished from Hương Tích Grotto in the Perfume Pagoda complex in Hanoi, a limestone cavern inscribed with the five Chinese characters Nam thiên đệ nhất động.
Two water sites along the ascent. Quỷ Khốc Stream, meaning Stream of Weeping Demons, is linked in local lore to the arduous mountain journey of Diệu Thiện. Official heritage descriptions record the name without glossing its origin, so that explanation belongs to oral tradition. Giải Oan Waterfall, meaning Absolution of Grievance, carries the same narrative thread.
The Trang Vương Foundations (nền Trang Vương) are a group of ninety-nine stone platforms in the complex named after Diệu Thiện's father King Zhuang of Chu, already mentioned in the 1811 treatise Thiên Lộc huyện Phong Thủy cổ chí. Bát Cảnh Hermitage, meaning Eight Views Hermitage, is one of the small shrines along the pilgrimage trail, named after the classical tradition of grouping a region's scenery into eight views.
The inventory of sites also lists the forest-gate shrine (miếu cửa rừng) at the entrance, the Lady Buddha rest station (trạm nghỉ Phật Bà) midway up, Giác Phổ Hermitage, Dược Sư Hermitage, the patriarchs' hall (nhà thờ tổ), the Holy Mother Hall (điện Thánh Mẫu), and the Maiden Shrine (miếu Cô), also called the White Tiger Shrine (miếu Bạch Hổ) after the white tiger in local lore. Reading through the list shows clearly how earlier generations laid out the site. Rather than gathering everything into one walled courtyard, they spaced the shrines along the trail so that climbers meet a stopping point at each stage, with each stop telling another episode from the story of Diệu Thiện. The climb itself is therefore part of the act of worship.
IVThe lie of the land and orientation
This section presents the library's reading through the lens of traditional geomancy (phong thủy), not material copied from stele inscriptions or heritage dossiers. The library notes this clearly so that readers can distinguish documentary records from interpretation.
First is the placement. The pagoda is set not on the summit but on a level shelf halfway up the mountain. In traditional site reading, a summit is an exposed spot (lộ) where winds press in from all four sides and qi cannot settle, while the foot of a mountain is weighed down by the mass above and blocked in view. A mid-slope shelf has the mountain ridge as a backing pillow (hậu chẩm) behind it while remaining open in front, which classical manuals call a seated node (huyệt tọa). Earlier generations chose that exact shelf, which is the first reason the pagoda has endured for seven centuries on a mountain slope.
Second is the element of the mountain range. Hồng Lĩnh is a range of mixed earth and rock whose peaks rise in a succession of pointed crests rather than a single flat block. In traditional five-phase classification, a multi-peaked rising range belongs to the Wood phase (hành Mộc), associated with growth, learning and spiritual cultivation. This very range is associated locally with ninety-nine peaks and numerous pagodas, hermitages and shrines. Read in the old way, it is a land of letters and cultivation rather than martial force.
Third is water, which here is not a broad river in front of the temple but mountain streams. The trail up to the pagoda follows the stream past Giải Oan Waterfall and Quỷ Khốc Stream. In mountain geomancy, a stream serves as a channel conducting qi downward from above, and a sanctuary placed beside a stream channel is regarded as receiving living qi rather than stagnant air. The role of the bright hall (minh đường) in front of the pagoda is fulfilled by the entire Hà Tĩnh plain stretching out to the sea, and such a wide bright hall is read in tradition as a configuration capable of welcoming visitors from all directions.
Last is the cavern, the most notable feature in geomantic terms. Hương Tích Grotto lies deep inside the mountain, a sheltered, dark and still space that in traditional terms belongs to the Earth phase (hành Thổ) and carries yin quality, whereas the Upper Hall on the open slope, exposed to sunlight and breeze, carries yang quality. A complex that includes both a cave inside the mountain and a hall on its surface holds both yin and yang, and in the Diệu Thiện narrative that sheltered cave is where she secluded herself before her transformation. Moreover, the structures here are arranged not along a flat horizontal axis like lowland temples, but along an ascending path with each shrine at a higher elevation, forming a vertical axis where worshippers move upward rather than inward. That layout matches the story enshrined at the pagoda, which tells of a person leaving home to ascend the mountain.
VThe pagoda festival and the eighteenth day of the second lunar month
The principal feast day of the pagoda is the 18th day of the second lunar month, commemorated as the day Princess Diệu Thiện attained enlightenment and transformed into Guanyin. Long before that date, the pagoda opens its festival on the 6th day of the first lunar month and draws crowds throughout the spring, as the New Year pilgrimage to Hương Tích Pagoda is a long-standing custom of the people of Nghệ Tĩnh.
| Lunar date | Observance | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 6th day of the 1st lunar month | Spring festival opening | Ceremony opening the pagoda's pilgrimage season, tied to the spring worship custom of the Nghệ Tĩnh region. In recent years Hà Tĩnh province has chosen the pagoda to inaugurate its annual tourism year on this date. |
| Throughout the 1st and 2nd lunar months | Pilgrimage season | The busiest period of the year. Pilgrims follow the mountain path, stopping in turn at the forest-gate shrine, the hermitages and the points along the trail before reaching the Upper Hall. |
| 18th day of the 2nd lunar month | Main feast day, transformation of Diệu Thiện | The most important observance of the year, commemorating Princess Diệu Thiện attaining enlightenment as Guanyin according to the temple legend. |
| 19th day of the 2nd lunar month | Birth of Avalokiteśvara | The feast day of Avalokiteśvara in the general Northern Buddhist calendar, falling immediately after the pagoda's main feast day so that pilgrims often observe both on a single trip. |
| Full moon of the 4th lunar month | Buddha's Birthday | General Buddhist festival observed at the pagoda according to Northern Buddhist rites. |
| 1st and 15th of each lunar month | Twice-monthly observances | Regular year-round rhythm of worship for local residents. |
A distinctive feature of the festival here is the climb. Unlike the Perfume Pagoda complex in the north, where the first stage goes by boat along a stream, on Mount Hồng Lĩnh the traditional route is a mountain foot trail through pine and bamboo forests. In recent years a boat route across Nhà Đường Reservoir linked to a cable car has been added for elderly visitors, yet walking up the slope and stopping at each small shrine before reaching the Upper Hall at the end still follows the exact arc of the legend, which is the story of someone leaving behind the old world and climbing upward.
In Northern Buddhist custom, three days of the year are dedicated to Avalokiteśvara, corresponding to birth, enlightenment and renunciation, all reckoned by the lunar calendar and falling on the nineteenth day of the second, sixth and ninth months. The main feast day of Hương Tích Pagoda is the 18th day of the second lunar month, immediately preceding the nineteenth day of the second month. Setting the feast day in this way shows that the pagoda's own observance, rooted in the legend of Diệu Thiện, was fitted closely into the shared Buddhist calendar rather than standing apart from it.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Núi Hồng Lĩnh, xã Can Lộc (xã Thiên Lộc, huyện Can Lộc cũ), tỉnh Hà Tĩnh
- Getting there
- The pagoda stands on Mount Hồng Lĩnh in Can Lộc Commune (formerly Thiên Lộc Commune, Can Lộc District), Hà Tĩnh Province. From the foot of the mountain to the pagoda is a mountain trail of about four kilometers, and alongside the hiking path there is now a boat route across Nhà Đường Reservoir connecting to a cable car up near the Upper Hall, so visitors should allow a full half-day for the ascent and descent.
- Coordinates
- 18.527, 105.784
This is an active place of worship, so temple etiquette should be observed, including dressing modestly, removing hats when entering the main hall, walking quietly and speaking softly in the Three Jewels Hall, not touching the ancient wooden statues or bronze artifacts, and placing donations in the merit box. The trail up is a mountain slope beside a stream that is often damp and slippery during the spring festival season, so footwear with good grip matters most. Inside the grotto and at the small hermitages along the path, the walkways are narrow, so visitors are asked to move in one direction to avoid blocking others.
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?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh
It worships the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Quán Thế Âm) in the Northern Buddhist tradition, tied to the legend of Princess Diệu Thiện practicing asceticism on this mountain and becoming Guanyin. Within the complex there is also the Heavenly King Temple, which local records identify as worshipping Hồng Sơn Đại Vương, the god of the mountain range itself, along with the Holy Mother Hermitage and many smaller shrines.
Is Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh the same as the Perfume Pagoda in Hanoi
No, they are two different pagodas. One stands on the Hồng Lĩnh mountain range in Hà Tĩnh, and the other lies in the Hương Sơn limestone mountains of Hanoi. Both worship Avalokiteśvara and both have a cavern named Hương Tích, but they are two separate complexes with their own festival seasons and their own artifact collections.
Did the northern Perfume Pagoda take its name from Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh
That is a theory that has not been proven. It rests on the fact that Hương Tích Pagoda in Hà Tĩnh is recorded as founded in the 13th century while the Perfume Pagoda complex in Hanoi is recorded as built between 1680 and 1704, and on the account that people from Nghệ Tĩnh serving in the capital wanted a closer place of worship. Because no contemporary document recording such a transfer has been found, the library notes the theory without drawing a conclusion.
Who was Princess Diệu Thiện according to the legend here
According to the temple legend, Diệu Thiện was the third daughter of King Zhuang of Chu who fled to this mountain range to practice asceticism when her father forced her into marriage. When her father fell gravely ill, she offered her own eyes and arms to save him, had them restored by the Buddha, and attained enlightenment as Guanyin. This is a sacred legend passed down in folk tradition rather than annalistic history.
What points lie along the trail up to the pagoda
The pilgrimage route passes many stops named after episodes in the story of Diệu Thiện, including the forest-gate shrine, the Lady Buddha rest station, Quỷ Khốc Stream, Giải Oan Waterfall, the Maiden Shrine, Giác Phổ Hermitage, Dược Sư Hermitage, Bát Cảnh Hermitage, the Trang Vương Foundations, Diệu Thiện Hermitage, the Holy Mother Hermitage and Hương Tích Grotto, before reaching the Upper Hall where the Three Jewels Hall houses more than fifty ancient wooden statues (sources record 50 or 54 statues).