Lộc Sơn Pagoda

Lộc Sơn Pagoda is located in Đắc Lộc Hamlet, Bắc Nha Trang Ward, Khánh Hòa Province. The pagoda is about 6 km northwest of the old Nha Trang City, near National Highway 1 and close to the Nha Trang Textile Factory.

The pagoda was established in 1898, more than 100 years ago. In 2008, exactly 110 years later, the abbot Thích Giác Trí held a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for a major restoration. Previously, the pagoda was made of bamboo, thatch, and palm leaves, and later was temporarily built with corrugated iron, wood, and simple tiles and bricks.

In 2010, the abbot Thích Giác Trí invited a statue of Amitābha Buddha made of Non Nước stone from Đà Nẵng (donated by a group of lay Buddhists led by Mrs. Tuyết Hồng). When the statue was brought to the pagoda's foundation (at that time, the pagoda only had concrete pillars and no walls), Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva suddenly manifested at the pagoda gate. At that moment, more than 400 people present witnessed this with their own eyes and all knelt down to pay homage.

By the end of 2012, the pagoda was basically completed. Currently, the pagoda has 7 stone Buddha statues, with the smallest about 1.2 metres tall and the largest over 2.5 metres. The abbot has built a foundation to enshrine a statue of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, also made of Non Nước stone, 3.6 metres high, on a reinforced concrete base 2.6 metres high, so the Kṣitigarbha statue will be over 6 metres tall (brought to the pagoda on the full moon day of the twelfth lunar month, Year of the Dragon). In addition, the abbot has enshrined a Reclining Buddha statue over 7 metres long, lying on a stone pedestal 0.8 metres high and 8 metres long. The statue is gilded, and at the same time, the other Buddha and Bodhisattva statues outside are also gilded, so that when viewed from the pagoda gate, they all appear in a uniform golden hue.

Lộc Sơn Pagoda was built at the entrance of the village on the outskirts of the city, in the middle of a wide field, so after the major restoration was completed, the pagoda became very spacious and airy. Inside the pagoda, in the centre of the main hall, there is a unique pair of stone vases and a pair of stone lamps, currently the only ones of their kind in Khánh Hòa Province.

Every year, the abbot and lay Buddhists organise charity events twice, each valued at over 10 million VND, specifically during the Vu Lan Festival and Lunar New Year (Tết Nguyên Đán).