Huê Nghiêm Pagoda

Huê Nghiêm Pagoda (華嚴寺), also known as Huê Nghiêm 2 Pagoda, is located at 299B Lương Định Của, An Khánh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, and belongs to the Northern School (Bắc tông) tradition. The abbot of Huê Nghiêm Pagoda is the Supreme Patriarch Thích Trí Quảng. The current resident abbot is Most Venerable Thích Lệ Trang.

The land of the present pagoda was purchased by Most Venerable Thích Hồng Tín for the Huê Nghiêm Tổ đình (patriarchal pagoda) in Thủ Đức in 1899. Previously, this land was used for rice production for the tổ đình. After 1975, Most Venerable Thích Trí Quảng built a thatched hermitage here, then constructed Huê Nghiêm 2 Pagoda so that the sangha and lay Buddhists would have a place to rest and practise. In 1998, Huê Nghiêm 2 Pagoda was officially recognised.

On an area of about 2 hectares, the abbot Most Venerable Thích Trí Quảng built a garden pagoda with an elegant beauty. The main hall enshrines Buddhas and Bodhisattvas carved from precious wood: Vairocana Buddha (Phật Tỳ Lô Giá Na), Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (Bồ tát Quán Thế Âm), Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva (Bồ tát Đại Thế Chí), Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva (Bồ tát Văn Thù), Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Bồ tát Phổ Hiền), and Maitreya Bodhisattva (Bồ tát Di Lặc). In each courtyard, garden corner, lotus pond, and fish pond, the abbot has named them after various Bodhisattvas and Holy Monks whose titles appear in the Lotus Sutra (kinh Pháp Hoa). Every month, there are two Sundays dedicated to the Pháp Hoa Dharma Assembly for lay Buddhists to practise intensively.

On 27 May 2000, Venerable Thích Giác Hoằng joyfully offered to the pagoda three relics (xá lợi) of the Buddha and the two Holy Monks Moggallāna (Mục Kiền Liên) and Śāriputra (Xá Lợi Phất). Notably, in the front courtyard of the pagoda stands a statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (Bồ tát Quán Thế Âm) 12 metres high (the statue is 8 metres, the pedestal is 4 metres), carved from a single block of granite weighing 60 tonnes, donated in 2003 by Most Venerable Thích Tịnh Từ, abbot of Kim Sơn Pagoda (USA).

Every year, during the Vesak Festival (Đại lễ Phật đản), the Buddhist Representative Board of District 2 selects the pagoda as the central venue for ceremonies attended by hundreds of monks and nuns and thousands of lay Buddhists. On the days when the abbot Most Venerable Thích Trí Quảng gives Dharma talks, there are always many monks, nuns, and thousands of lay Buddhists coming to study and practise. The pagoda has plans to develop the current site into one of the foremost great temples (đại tự) in Vietnam.

The pagoda today regularly welcomes many groups of domestic and international tourists who come to pay homage.