Giác Viên Pagoda

Giác Viên Pagoda (覺圓寺), also known as Giác Viên Tổ đình (覺圓祖庭) or Hố Đất Pagoda (so named because it was formerly beside the Hố Đất canal), is an ancient pagoda currently located at 161/35/20 Lạc Long Quân Street, Bình Thới Ward (formerly Ward 3, District 11), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The pagoda was recognised by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a national historical and cultural monument under Decision No. 43 – VH/QĐ dated 7 January 1993.

In the year Mậu Ngọ (1798), Giác Lâm Pagoda underwent major restoration under Zen Master Tổ Tông-Viên Quang (36th generation, abbot: 1774–1827), which was almost a complete reconstruction. Timber for the pagoda was transported from the forest by river, following the Hố Đất canal (i.e. Tân Hòa canal) into the Ông Bường canal, and unloaded at the wharf that later became the site of today's Giác Viên Pagoda.

After being sawn, the planks were taken to Giác Lâm Pagoda (about 2 km away) by ox cart. This major restoration project lasted about six years (1798–1804). During this period, an elderly hương đăng (a layman responsible for incense and lamps in the pagoda, name unknown) was assigned to oversee the sawing and safeguarding of the timber. At this location, he built a small hut (inside which was an altar to Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara/Quán Thế Âm), which served both as his place of practice and as a base for his work. When the restoration of Giác Lâm Pagoda was completed, Zen Master Tổ Tông-Viên Quang had the hut converted into a pagoda, naming it Viện Quan Âm.

In the year Canh Tuất (1850), the then abbot of Giác Lâm Pagoda, Tiên Giác-Hải Tịnh (37th generation, abbot: 1827–1869), had the viện (monastic residence) renovated into a pagoda and renamed it Giác Viên.

In the year Nhâm Tý (1852), the elderly hương đăng (the founder and caretaker of Giác Viên Pagoda) passed away. Venerable Tiên Giác-Hải Tịnh appointed his disciple, Zen Master Minh Vi-Mật Hạnh (38th generation), as abbot, and also established a centre for the study of ritual liturgy there.

In 1869, as Venerable Tiên Giác-Hải Tịnh felt his age and frailty, he brought Zen Master Minh Vi-Mật Hạnh back to serve as abbot of Giác Lâm Pagoda, and appointed another disciple, Zen Master Minh Khiêm-Hoằng Ân (38th generation), as abbot of Giác Viên Pagoda. Subsequently, the successive abbots of the pagoda were: Như Nhu-Chân Không, Như Phòng-Hoằng Nghĩa, Hồng Từ-Huệ Nhơn, Thích Thiện Phú, ...

Giác Viên Pagoda underwent major renovations in 1958, 1961, and 1962. Its current appearance features architecture similar to Giác Lâm Pagoda, with the Buddha hall in the centre and two rows of buildings on either side. In addition, within the pagoda grounds are auxiliary buildings serving as classrooms, a refectory, kitchen, and a stupa cemetery.

The pagoda houses a total of 153 statues of various sizes (mostly wooden), 57 bao lam (carved altar screens), and 60 bas-reliefs. Most of these antiquities were carved in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A distinctive feature of Giác Viên Pagoda's architecture is its intricately carved wooden framework, representative of traditional southern Vietnamese architecture.

The main hall enshrines up to 120 statues, notably including the following figures and groups: Amitābha (A Di Đà), Bodhisattva Maitreya (Di Lặc), Avalokiteśvara (Quán Thế Âm), Mahāsthāmaprāpta (Đại Thế Chí), the Ten Kings of Hell (Thập Điện Diêm Vương, 10 statues), and the Eighteen Arhats (Thập Bát La Hán, 18 statues). Additionally, on the ancestral altar are three portrait statues of three abbots: Tiên Giác-Hải Tịnh, Như Nhu-Chân Không, and Như Phòng-Hoằng Nghĩa.

Besides these antiquities, the pagoda also preserves a royal hammock stand presented by the Nguyễn dynasty to Venerable Tiên Giác-Hải Tịnh, and an ancient apricot tree. According to 'Gia Định xưa', this apricot tree "was originally propagated from a variety brought by Mạc Cửu from China to Vietnam".

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Vương Hồng Sển, Saigon in Former Times. Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 1991.

Huỳnh Minh, Old Gia Định (1973), reprinted by Thanh Niên Publishing House in 2001.

Nguyễn Hiền Đức, History of Buddhism in Đàng Trong, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 1995.

Tourism Service Knowledge Textbook, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 1995.