One Pillar Pagoda

About this place

A small Buddhist shrine set on a single pillar in the middle of a square pond, so that it rises from the water like a lotus flower; it is one of Hanoi's best-known sights. Legend says that in 1049 Emperor Ly Thai Tong dreamt of Quan Am, the Buddhist figure known in China as Guanyin, seated on a lotus and handing him a baby son; he built the pagoda in the shape of a lotus, and a crown prince was later born to him. In 1954, shortly before French forces left Hanoi, a lieutenant of the French army blew the pagoda up with dynamite. It was rebuilt in 1955 to the old design: a curved tiled roof over a small wooden shrine, carried on a stone pillar 1.25 metres across and 4 metres high, with a narrow stair rising from the edge of the pond. The pagoda stands beside the Ho Chi Minh Museum, a few steps from the mausoleum, so most people see it on the same visit. The shrine is tiny and the visit short; the best view is from the edge of the pond, with the pagoda reflected in the water. Entry is free, and the site is quiet early in the morning, before the tour buses arrive.