Tran Quoc Pagoda

Tran Quoc Pagoda is one of the oldest pagodas in Hanoi because it is traditionally said to date back to the reign of Ly Nam De (544-548).

At that time, the pagoda was built near the bank of the Cai River and was named Khai Quoc Pagoda. During the reign of Le Kinh Tong (1600-1618), the riverbank eroded, and the people moved to the Golden Fish islet in the middle of West Lake (the present-day site). During the reign of Le Hy Tong (1680-1705), it was renamed Tran Quoc Pagoda.

The pagoda is located in a special position with beautiful natural scenery. It still preserves traditional ancient architecture and a collection of artifacts: stone steles and bronze bells of rare value.

The pagoda is built in the shape of the character Cong and is a scenic spot of West Lake, enhancing the beauty of the sunset, with the pagoda's reflection sparkling on the vast water of the wonderful West Lake scenery; it has many brick towers and an eight-roofed bell tower with upturned corner eaves.

The pagoda still fully preserves the typical Cong-character layout of Northern Buddhism. Items such as the Front Hall, Incense Burning House, and Upper Hall are regularly maintained to ensure structural load-bearing capacity and ancient aesthetic value.

The pagoda currently keeps 14 steles. On a stele engraved in 1815 is an essay by Doctor Pham Quy Thich recording the restoration of the pagoda after a long period of ruin. This work began in 1813 and ended in 1815.

The highlight that creates a distinctive feature for Tran Quoc Pagoda is the stupa garden with many ancient stupas from the 18th century. Notable is the Luc Do Lotus Platform Stupa, built in 1998. The great stupa has 11 tiers and is 15 m high. Each tier has six arched door openings, and in each opening is a statue of Amitabha Buddha made of precious stone. At the top of the stupa is a nine-tier lotus platform (called Cuu Pham Lien Hoa), also made of precious stone. This stupa is placed symmetrically with the large bodhi tree donated by the President of India when he visited Hanoi in 1959.

Tran Quoc Pagoda is one of the most ancient pagodas in Thang Long - Hanoi. Under the Ly and Tran dynasties, it was the Buddhist center of the Thang Long capital. The pagoda was a place where kings and lords regularly came to enjoy the scenery, discuss Buddhist teachings, and make offerings, notably Empress Mother Y Lan and later Nguyen kings.

In the pagoda there are several beautiful statues, the most notable being a gilded wood statue of Shakyamuni entering Nirvana. The pagoda has many ancient stone steles; the oldest and most valuable is the stele erected in 1639, composed by Trang Nguyen Nguyen Xuan Chinh, recording the history of the pagoda's major restoration in that same year.

The pagoda is a spiritual mainstay for the people of Hanoi. On the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month or during Tet holidays, thousands of people flock here to offer incense, pray for peace and luck, and seek tranquility amid the bustle of the city. Not only does it attract Buddhists, but it has also been voted by many international travel magazines (such as Wanderlust and National Geographic) as one of the most beautiful pagodas in the world, contributing to promoting Vietnamese cultural values globally.