Keo Pagoda

Keo Pagoda has the Sino-Vietnamese name “Báo Ân Trùng Nghiêm Tự” and is located in Keo Village, Kim Sơn Commune, Gia Lâm District. Today it is Giao Tất Hamlet, Thuận An Commune, Hanoi City. Keo Village is the name of the village, meaning the two hamlets are closely bonded (Giao Tất and Giao Tự hamlets). The pagoda lies in an area where Buddhism was introduced into our country early.

Keo Pagoda was built nearly a millennium ago and is a bright spot in the history of Vietnamese Buddhism. Keo Pagoda is part of the system of pagodas dedicated to the Four Dharma goddesses: Pháp Vân, Pháp Vũ, Pháp Lôi, Pháp Điện; it is a place of worship for Pháp Vân, whom local people still call Lady Keo. Legends about Lady Keo remain deeply imprinted in this historical land; moreover, this is one of the four great Buddhist sites of Luy Lâu.

Today the pagoda still retains its ancient beauty and is an old pagoda of Hanoi. Through its existence, Keo Pagoda has preserved a fairly large number of Buddha statues. Among them are many rare, beautiful statues of special value, such as the statues of the three Buddhas of the Three Times (the earliest statue set in the pagoda), the statue of Guanyin of the South Sea, and the statue of Guanyin seated on a lotus pedestal. Notably, the statue of Pháp Vân (Lady Keo) dates from the 18th century. When writing about “Cổ tích của một làng”, Hanoi scholar Nguyễn Vinh Phúc recorded about Keo Pagoda as follows: “In the pagoda there is a statue that is very noteworthy. It is a statue with a unique beauty. Its hands are not clasped in front of its chest but clasped askew to both sides as if dancing… The whole statue is like a beautiful young girl performing the flower dance.”

Keo Pagoda was classified as a Historical and Architectural Artistic Relic by decision of the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1993.