Huong The Pagoda

Huong The Pagoda (whose Sino-Vietnamese name is Huong The Tu) is located at Lane 121 Kim Nguu Street, Vinh Tuy Ward, Hanoi City. The pagoda was built during the Nguyen Dynasty by local people and Buddhists of the two villages of Huong The and Trung Tri, belonging to Thanh Nhan Canton, Hoan Long District, former Ha Dong Province; it is now Vinh Tuy Ward, Hanoi City. The pagoda was built after the Huong The communal house and is located to the right of the communal house.
The pagoda was built in the shape of the character “Đinh” (mallet-handle shape). The overall layout includes: the three-entrance gate, the pagoda courtyard, the main pagoda, the memorial house, the storehouse, the Mother Goddess house, the Patriarch house, the guest house, and auxiliary areas. In front of the pagoda there was formerly a large lotus pond; to the left of the old pagoda there was a pagoda well, which has now been renovated into a garden of the pagoda. Inside the pagoda, the design includes the Three Jewels, the place of worship of Duc Ong and the Four Palaces. The Buddha statues are arranged in five rows. The top row has three Tam The statues, the Amitabha statue, and the Maitreya statue. Tradition says these are three beautiful statues dating back hundreds of years. The second row includes the Guanyin statue and the Samantabhadra Bodhisattva statue. The third row includes statues worshiping the Buddhas; the fifth row includes the Nine Dragons throne and the Holy Van figures. On the right side of the pagoda is the worship place of Duc Chua Ong. This is also a long-standing statue and is highly appreciated for its artistic value. On the left side inside the pagoda is the Mother Goddess worship area, including the statues of the Three Palaces of Holy Mothers and the Holy figures. Within the pagoda grounds there is also the Patriarch house, including the statue of the Patriarch Buddha and nuns who have passed away. At present, the pagoda still preserves a rich system of relics such as: the stone stele “Hau Phat bi ky”, a bell dating from the fourth year of Thanh Thai (1892), horizontal plaques, parallel sentences, and Buddhist statues of historical and artistic value.
Since 2003, the pagoda has been restored and embellished many times in order to preserve and promote the value of the relic site and contribute to serving the people's spiritual and religious needs.