One-Roof Pagoda (Boi Am Tu)

Not only is it located in the famous Thay Pagoda scenic complex, the One-Roof Pagoda is also known as the place where Uncle Ho stayed and worked from February 3 to March 2, 1947.

On the night of February 3, 1947, President Ho Chi Minh came to Sai Son and stayed and worked in the first bay at the right gable end of the Mother Goddess Hall of the One-Roof Pagoda. During one month at the One-Roof Pagoda, he and his comrades in the Central Committee and the Government handled many important national affairs. From the One-Roof Pagoda, on February 10, 1947, President Ho Chi Minh went to Don Duong in Nho Quan District to chair an important conference of landowners of Ninh Binh Province. On the evening of February 16, 1947, he went from Sai Son to Chuong My to preside over a meeting of the Government Council, heard important reports from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and discussed many urgent tasks of the resistance war against the French. On the evening of February 18, 1947, Uncle Ho visited and worked in Thanh Hoa Province. On the night of March 2, 1947, from the One-Roof Pagoda, President Ho Chi Minh went to Quoc Oai District to chair a meeting of the Government Council, discussing and deciding many major matters, including the important and urgent task of quickly organizing the relocation of government agencies to Phu Tho to move on to Viet Bac. On the evening of March 3, 1947, President Ho Chi Minh left Hoang Xa Cave, crossed Trung Ha Ferry, went to Phu Tho, and up to the Viet Bac war zone…

After the victory of the resistance war against the French, in early October 1954, President Ho Chi Minh and central agencies returned to the capital. Despite being busy with countless tasks, on May 19, 1957, Uncle Ho returned to visit the One-Roof Pagoda in the Sai Son scenic area. He was moved and paused for quite a long time in front of the Ancestor House, before the first bay at the right side of the Mother Goddess Hall, where more than 10 years earlier he had lived and worked for a month. And two years later, also on his birthday, May 19, 1959, President Ho Chi Minh once again visited Sai Son and the One-Roof Pagoda…

The One-Roof Pagoda was built in the late 19th century. Located on the western side of Sai Son Mountain, it features characteristic Nguyen Dynasty architecture in the shape of the character “tam,” including: an eight-roofed three-entrance gate, a five-bay Mother Goddess Hall, and an Ancestor House with only one half-roofed bay built against the mountain. That is why local people commonly call Boi Am Tu the One-Roof Pagoda.

The pagoda gate is small, and a brick path runs straight between rows of duoi trees. In the grounds there are several stupa tombs; at the foot of the mountain beside the path up to the pagoda is Bo Cave. Past the One-Roof Pagoda are Khe Gio, or Gio Cave.

The main pagoda consists of the Front Hall and the Upper Hall. The Front Hall has 3 bays running along the outside with 4 sets of roof trusses on 4 rows of columns. The Upper Hall has only one roof leaning against the mountain wall in the stacked-eaves style. The pagoda’s system of Buddha statues is placed directly on platforms on the mountainside, creating a serene scene.

At present, the pagoda still preserves many valuable relics, such as the statue of Admiral Phan Van Kinh and statues of the Admiral’s two wives dating from the 18th–19th centuries, some mai nha stone steles dating from the 18th century, and many relics from the early 20th century…