Looking in from Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street, visitors see a temple complex set on a high platform, reached by climbing twenty-three steps to the upper courtyard. The roof is arranged in tiered layers (chồng diêm) with sweeping upturned eaves, faithful to the silhouette of northern Vietnamese pagodas, yet the entire structure is cast in reinforced concrete rather than built of timber. Looking toward the main hall from the triple-arched gate, the seven-story Quán Thế Âm (Avalokiteshvara) Tower rises nearly forty meters on the left, while the seven-story Vĩnh Nghiêm Stone Tower stands fourteen meters tall on the right near the entrance.
This is a relatively young temple, not yet sixty years old, but its name is ancient. Vĩnh Nghiêm is the name of the ancestral pagoda in Đức La village, Yên Dũng district, former Bắc Giang province, a center closely tied to the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử Zen school. Two senior monks who traveled from the north to the south gave that name to the new temple, making their intention clear, which was to replant a piece of their spiritual roots in southern soil.
IA name carried south from Bắc Giang
Vĩnh Nghiêm means enduring solemnity. This name was not coined anew for the pagoda in Saigon, but belonged to an older temple more than one thousand seven hundred kilometers to the north.
In Buddhist usage, an ancestral temple (tổ đình) is the root monastery of a transmission lineage. The Vĩnh Nghiêm ancestral temple in Đức La village is regarded as a foundational center of the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử Zen school, the first indigenous Vietnamese Zen lineage founded by Emperor Trần Nhân Tông. Within Buddhism, naming a new temple after an ancestral seat declares which lineage it belongs to, much as descendants carry their family surname rather than borrowing an outside title.
Historical records show that the pagoda was initiated by Two Most Venerable Monks, Thích Tâm Giác and Thích Thanh Kiểm. Both came from northern Vietnam to spread the Dharma in the south, and modeled the temple after the Vĩnh Nghiêm ancestral pagoda in Đức La village, Trí Yên commune, Yên Dũng district, former Bắc Giang province (now part of Bắc Ninh province). The architectural plans were drawn by architect Nguyễn Bá Lăng with two collaborators, Lê Tấn Chuyên and Cổ Văn Hậu.
The two pagodas of the same name are often confused. Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda in former Bắc Giang is an ancient temple dating back to the Lý and Trần dynasties, home to the woodblock collection inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register for Asia and the Pacific. Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City is a 1960s complex that carries the name of that ancestral seat. The two sites differ completely in age, sharing only their name and their lineage bond.
IIFrom a low creekside lot to a major temple
The site where the pagoda stands was originally a low-lying marsh along the Thị Nghè Creek. To create a foundation, builders hauled in roughly forty thousand cubic meters of earth from the Biên Hòa highway to fill and raise the ground. That is why the pagoda today sits on an elevated platform reached by flights of steps.
- 1964GroundbreakingOn 2 December 1964, Most Venerables Thích Tâm Giác and Thích Thanh Kiểm broke ground on the low lot by the Thị Nghè Creek. Initial construction costs were recorded at around 98 million South Vietnamese đồng at the time, contributed by Buddhist laypeople.
- 1971First phase completedThe main Buddha hall, Quán Thế Âm Tower, social charity wing, and monks' quarters were completed, and the pagoda officially opened. The great bronze bell named the Bell of Peace, donated by Entsu-in Temple (Fukushima Prefecture) and Japanese Buddhists, was also cast in this year.
- 1982Xá Lợi Cộng Đồng Tower builtA four-story, 25-meter stupa behind the left side of the Buddha hall was started in 1982 and finished in 1984 to house funerary urns of Buddhist laypeople.
- 2003Vĩnh Nghiêm Stone Tower inauguratedIn December 2003, the seven-story, 14-meter stupa weighing about 180 tons and crafted of Thanh Hóa blue stone was inaugurated in memory of the late Most Venerable Thích Thanh Kiểm. In February 2005, it was recognized in the Vietnam Book of Records as the largest and tallest stone stupa in Vietnam.
- 2005Triple-arched gate relocated intactIn February 2005, when Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street was widened, the triple-arched gate weighing about 120 tons was moved intact further inside the compound by master mover Nguyễn Cẩm Lũy rather than being demolished.
From a technical standpoint, this complex is noted as one of the first pagodas in Vietnam to use reinforced concrete thoroughly for its entire structural frame while preserving the traditional double-tiered roofs and curved eaves of northern Vietnamese pagodas. In short, the silhouette is classical, while the material and load-bearing structure belong to the twentieth century.
IIIThe Buddha hall, three towers, and the Japanese bell
The pagoda occupies a plot of about 6,000 square meters, laid out in an I-shaped plan (chữ Công) across two levels. The ground floor, 3.2 to 4.2 meters high, houses the Ancestral Hall (venerating Patriarch Bodhidharma), lecture hall, offices, library, monks' rooms, and dining hall. From the front courtyard, three flights of twenty-three steps lead up to an upper terrace about ten meters wide in front of the Buddha Hall (Phật điện). Lengthwise, the Buddha Hall is divided into three sections, namely the Bái Điện (35 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 15 meters high, venerating Shakyamuni Buddha in the center, Manjushri Bodhisattva on the left, and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva on the right, with two large Vajrapani guardian statues on the porch), the Bản Điện (venerating Amitabha Buddha), and the Địa Tạng Đường (venerating Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva). From the upper terrace, visitors can take in all three towers in the compound at once.
| Structure | Scale | Date and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buddha Hall (Tòa Phật điện) | Bái Điện 35 m long, 22 m wide, 15 m high | Completed in 1971, comprising three halls (Bái Điện, Bản Điện, and Địa Tạng Đường) on the upper level |
| Quán Thế Âm Tower | Seven stories, nearly 40 m high | Built alongside the pagoda on the left of the Buddha Hall, square base of 6 m per side, topped by nine Dharma wheels |
| Xá Lợi Cộng Đồng Tower | Four stories, 25 m high | Built from 1982 to 1984 behind the left side of the Buddha Hall as a columbarium for funerary ashes |
| Vĩnh Nghiêm Stone Tower | Seven stories, 14 m high, about 180 tons | Inaugurated in December 2003 on the right near the entrance, fitted from Thanh Hóa blue stone in memory of Most Venerable Thích Thanh Kiểm |
| Great bronze bell (Bell of Peace) | 1.8 m diameter | Cast in 1971, donated by Entsu-in Temple (Fukushima Prefecture) and Japanese Soto Zen Buddhists before 1975 |
| Triple-arched gate (Tam quan) | About 120 tons | Relocated intact by master mover Nguyễn Cẩm Lũy in 2005 when Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street was widened |
Standing on the right just inside the triple-arched gate, this seven-story stupa rises 14 meters and weighs about 180 tons, assembled entirely from interlocked Thanh Hóa blue stone without an internal concrete frame. It was built to commemorate and enshrine the late Most Venerable Thích Thanh Kiểm.
The tallest stupa in the compound at nearly 40 meters, standing to the left of the Buddha Hall when looking in from the gate. Its spire is crowned by a vertical column of nine Dharma wheels.
The roof rises in stacked layers with sweeping upturned eaves in the style of northern Vietnamese temples, cast in reinforced concrete. Inside the Bái Điện are finely carved wooden archways, horizontal plaques, parallel couplets, and reliefs of the Four Sacred Buddhist Sites.
Standing at the front right corner of the upper courtyard, this pavilion holds the 1.8-meter-diameter great bronze bell named the Bell of Peace, donated by Entsu-in Temple (Fukushima Prefecture) and Japanese Soto Zen Buddhists as a prayer for peace in Vietnam.
Many popular accounts describe the pagoda as having Japanese architecture. Two distinct layers should be separated here. What is documented in historical sources is the great bronze bell named the Bell of Peace, donated by Entsu-in Temple and Japanese Soto Zen (Tào Động) Buddhists, reflecting the close ties between the two founding monks (both of whom had studied in Japan) and Japanese Buddhist circles of that era. Meanwhile, the soaring tower proportions and multi-tiered roofs that remind some viewers of Japanese temples were modeled after the Vĩnh Nghiêm ancestral pagoda in former Bắc Giang and drawn by architect Nguyễn Bá Lăng. In other words, the Japanese imprint here is clearest in ritual objects and Buddhist exchange, whereas the architectural form remains rooted in northern Vietnamese temple tradition.
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 temple steles. The library notes this clearly so readers can distinguish historical records from interpretation.
The first feature worth noting is the raising of the ground. The original lot was a low-lying marsh along the Thị Nghè Creek, and the builders brought in roughly forty thousand cubic meters of soil to elevate the foundation. While that was an engineering decision, in traditional land-reading it matches an old principle that low, damp ground stagnates qi, whereas high, dry ground is where qi gathers (khí tụ). When a naturally formed site could not be found, classical masters practiced earth replenishment (tài bồi), building up the terrain to complete the form. This pagoda is a modern example of that method, carried out with dump trucks rather than shoulder poles.
The second element is the watercourse. The nearby Thị Nghè Creek serves as the water channel. In feng shui, water conducts and retains qi, and a stream that flows past without cutting straight into a site is read as water gathering (thủy tụ) rather than a water clash (thủy xung). Because the pagoda does not face straight toward the creek but opens onto the main thoroughfare, the waterway acts as a rear embrace rather than a front bright hall.
The third element is the bright hall (minh đường) and the steps. Twenty-three steps and an upper terrace about ten meters wide create a transition zone between the street and the sanctuary doors. That upper courtyard serves as the bright hall (minh đường) of the structure, a flat, open, unobstructed space where qi settles before entering the main hall. The flights of steps also perform another function valued in feng shui, namely buffering the rush (hoãn xung). The wide avenue running past the front carries a fast, forceful current, and the high platform and steps force that flow to slow down, just as stone ledges temper a mountain stream.
Finally, there is the Five Elements balance of the three towers. The concrete Quán Thế Âm Tower soaring on the left of the main hall tapers toward its spire, which in form-reading belongs to the Fire element (hành Hỏa), governing upward movement and illumination. The Vĩnh Nghiêm Stone Tower on the right near the gate is heavy and compact, belonging to the Earth element (hành Thổ) blended with Metal (Kim), governing stability and stillness. Standing on the left and right flanks of the main hall axis, one rising upward and one anchoring downward, the two structures create a balanced pair that classical texts call left and right guardians (tả hữu hộ vệ). The library records this as a reading of architectural form, not as a stated intention of the designer.
VAnnual festivals and observances
Because the pagoda serves as a major Buddhist center for the city, general observances of Northern (Mahayana) Buddhism are held here on a large scale. The dates below follow the lunar calendar.
| Lunar date | Observance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 15th day of the 1st month | Thượng Nguyên (First Full Moon) | New Year prayer service for peace and well-being, one of the most crowded days of the year. |
| 15th day of the 4th month | Buddha's Birthday (Phật Đản) | Commemorating the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha, featuring the bathing of the infant Buddha ceremony and citywide Buddhist gatherings. |
| 15th day of the 7th month | Vu Lan (Ullambana) | Festival of filial piety and prayers for the deceased, closely tied here to the Xá Lợi Cộng Đồng columbarium tower. |
| 15th day of the 10th month | Hạ Nguyên (Tenth-Month Full Moon) | Year-end service of thanksgiving and prayers for peace. |
| 1st day of the 1st month | Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Day | The pagoda remains open throughout New Year's Eve, drawing large crowds of worshippers. |
Alongside seasonal festivals, the pagoda runs regular Dharma classes, retreats, and long-standing social charity programs. This distinguishes Vĩnh Nghiêm from a purely sightseeing temple, as throughout the week it functions as an active learning and community center for Buddhist laypeople.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Số 339 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa, phường Xuân Hòa, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
- Getting there
- The pagoda stands at 339 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street, Xuân Hòa ward (former District 3), Ho Chi Minh City, near Công Lý Bridge along the main artery linking the city center with Tân Sơn Nhất Airport, so spotting the seven-story tower tells you that you have arrived.
- Coordinates
- 10.7906, 106.6819
Standing right on a major avenue, the pagoda is easy to reach, yet inside it remains an active place of worship. Visitors are asked to dress modestly, remove hats before entering the main hall, walk quietly, and refrain from climbing the stupa steps or touching the carved stone surfaces of the stone tower. Because the Xá Lợi Cộng Đồng Tower holds the funerary ashes of many families, please remain respectful when walking past or taking photographs.
If you visit to study the architecture, stand on the upper terrace and look back toward the triple-arched gate, as from that vantage point you can see how the multi-tiered roofs stack upon one another and how the three stupas occupy three distinct positions rather than lining up on a single axis.
Nearby places in the library
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?Quick Questions
Is Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda in Saigon an ancient temple
No. Ground was broken on 2 December 1964 and the first phase was completed in 1971. What is ancient here is the name and lineage, as Vĩnh Nghiêm is the name of the ancestral pagoda in Đức La village, Yên Dũng district, former Bắc Giang province (now Bắc Ninh province), a foundational seat of the Trúc Lâm Yên Tử Zen school.
Who founded the pagoda
Most Venerables Thích Tâm Giác and Thích Thanh Kiểm, who came south from northern Vietnam and had studied in Japan, initiated and led the construction. The architectural plans were drawn by architect Nguyễn Bá Lăng together with Lê Tấn Chuyên and Cổ Văn Hậu.
How many towers does the pagoda have and which is the tallest
There are three major stupas. The seven-story Quán Thế Âm Tower on the left of the Buddha Hall is the tallest at nearly 40 meters, built at the same time as the pagoda. The four-story Xá Lợi Cộng Đồng Tower behind the left side of the Buddha Hall rises 25 meters and was completed in 1984. The seven-story Vĩnh Nghiêm Stone Tower on the right near the triple-arched gate stands 14 meters high and was inaugurated in December 2003.
Where does the Japanese influence at this pagoda lie
It is clearest in the 1.8-meter-diameter great bronze bell named the Bell of Peace, donated before 1975 by Entsu-in Temple (Fukushima Prefecture) and Japanese Soto Zen Buddhists as a prayer for peace in Vietnam. The roof and tower forms, by contrast, were modeled on the Vĩnh Nghiêm ancestral pagoda in former Bắc Giang, so any Japanese visual impression is a viewer's perception rather than a copied architectural plan.
What is the Vĩnh Nghiêm Stone Tower made of and whom does it honor
It is built entirely of interlocked Thanh Hóa blue stone without an internal concrete frame, rising seven stories (14 meters) and weighing about 180 tons. Inaugurated in December 2003 to commemorate and enshrine the late Most Venerable Thích Thanh Kiểm, it was recognized in the Vietnam Book of Records as the largest and tallest stone stupa in Vietnam.