Đại Cát Pagoda

The Đại Cát village pagoda dates from the 18th century. After many centuries, the pagoda underwent a period of decline and was restored at the beginning of the 21st century, significantly increasing the built area within its grounds.

Đại Cát Pagoda was built next to Đại Cát Communal House on high and spacious land. The pagoda’s three-entrance gate, like the communal house’s Nghi Môn gate, faces west. Following the three-entrance gate is a small garden.

The pagoda has a layout in the shape of the character “Đinh.” The front hall consists of five bays and two side aisles, with a structure of stacked beams and trusses, followed by the rear sanctuary; in the middle is a bell tower with a great bell cast in the Mậu Ngọ year. Across a large courtyard leads to the Ancestor Hall, Mother Hall, and Nuns’ Hall. The Ancestor Hall also has a layout in the shape of the character “Đinh.”

Inside the pagoda, the statues are complete and arranged similarly to those in ancient Vietnamese pagodas according to Buddhist regulations. The pagoda has 10 Buddha statues, 3 Mother Goddess statues, several other attendant statues, along with a statue of Patriarch Bodhidharma, horizontal plaques, parallel sentences, a ceremonial gate, and a cabinet of sutras containing up to 100 volumes. In addition, the pagoda also has a large bell, a pillar stele erected in 1742, and many steles carved in 1853, 1857, and 1859 recording the restoration and construction of the pagoda.

On 31-01-1992, the Đại Cát communal house and pagoda relic complex was ranked by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a national architectural and artistic relic.