Lam Duong Quan Pagoda (Da Sy Pagoda)

Lam Duong Pagoda is also called Lam Duong Quan or Lam Duong Quan Pagoda. It is located in Da Si Village, Kien Hung Ward, Ha Dong District; local people also call it Da Si Pagoda after the village name. The pagoda was built next to Da Si Shrine, which worships Hoang Don Hoa, the patriarch of traditional medicine in the late 16th century, and his wife.

The inscription on the Lam Duong Quan Bi stele says: 'The temple grounds look gloomy in all four directions; on the left and right is a continuous stretch of land; in front and behind are rivers and water, a beautiful scene, complete and sacred.' There is no documentation to firmly determine when Lam Duong Quan was founded or when it was converted into a pagoda. However, according to records on a stele made in 1680, Lam Duong Pagoda already existed then. Through many restorations in 1628, 1680, 1724, and 1740, and after a long gap, not until the 15th year of Bao Dai's reign (1944) was there another stele recording a restoration. Therefore, Lam Duong Quan Pagoda today bears a strong Nguyen Dynasty style. The pagoda was built facing southeast, the traditional direction of Vietnamese architecture. This is also the direction of wisdom, yang, associated with happiness and goodness, and the direction of emperors and deities. The pagoda's layout includes: Tam Quan (also the bell tower), Tam Bao with corridors on both sides, and Mau Hall. Tam Bao (Tien Duong and Thuong Dien) has a dinh-shaped plan. The layout of these architectural items has changed compared with records on the Hung Tao Lam Duong Quan stele erected in 1628 and the Trung Tu Lam Duong Quan Bi stele created around the 19th century.

The pagoda's Tam Quan, which also serves as the bell tower, is built of brick, 10 m high, with two tiers and four bronze pillars; the pillar tops are decorated with four phoenixes, overlapping leaves, and trai gianh motifs. The first tier has three arched doors and a staircase leading up at the right gable end. The second tier is smaller and also divided into three bays; the fairly wide central bay hangs a bell cast in the first year of Canh Thinh (1793). The five-bay Tien Duong has closed gable ends, ngai-style brackets, two tiled roof tiers, and the central ridge is embossed with three large Chinese characters 'Lam Duong Quan'. The trusses are of the keo-ke type on a four-row-column plan, with no decorative patterns. The architecture is in the late Nguyen Dynasty style, around the late 19th to early 20th century.