Thanh Sam Pagoda

Thanh Sam Pagoda has the literary name Linh Quang Tu. The pagoda is located in Thanh Hoa Hamlet, Ung Thien Commune, Hanoi City.

Currently, no one knows exactly when Thanh Sam Pagoda was built. However, beneath the Buddha hall there is a box-shaped lotus pedestal assembled from many stone slabs weighing tons, carved with stylized figures of the Garuda divine bird and dragons, phoenixes... under the influence of Champa sculptural art of the Tran period. This pedestal closely resembles the lotus pedestal at nearby Boi Khe Pagoda, allowing it to be dated to around the 14th-15th century. The pagoda also preserves clay statues in the typical Le Trung Hung style and stone steles and bronze bells bearing Nguyen dynasty dates.

The pagoda faces east, looking across a brick courtyard to an orchard and pond. Instead of a Tam Quan gate, there is a simply built pagoda gate covered with old tree roots and vines. To the right of the courtyard is a stupa garden with five ancestral tombs. In front of and behind the main pagoda, several structures have been restored and expanded in 2018.

The layout of the main pagoda is built in the shape of the character “Cong”. The front hall is low, consisting of five small bays, connected to a three-bay rear sanctuary to form a mallet-shaped plan. The Buddha hall is in the middle; in front of the famous lotus pedestal there is also a relief and a pair of stone nghe statues standing guard. The bays display many newly repainted statues; next to the side door at the gable end are two stone steles and a bronze bell. The left corridor is used as the Ancestor Hall and guest house.

On February 20, 1997, Thanh Sam Pagoda was ranked as a National Historical and Cultural Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.