Phú Long Pagoda

Phú Long Pagoda (other names: Ông Chất Pagoda, Phú Nhuận Village Pagoda, Bà Cả Đành Pagoda) is a Northern School Buddhist pagoda located at 62A Huỳnh Văn Bánh Street, Ward 15, Phú Nhuận District, Ho Chi Minh City.

Phú Long Pagoda was founded by Mr. Lê Tự Tài in 1804.

The pagoda was renovated in the years 1945, 1952, and 1998.

On 30 April 1995, Venerable Thích Hạnh Thu was appointed abbot of the pagoda.

Previous abbots were: Most Venerable Thích Gia Chất, Most Venerable Thích Quảng Phát, Most Venerable Thích Thiện Mỹ, Most Venerable Thích Thiện Sanh, Venerable Thích Thiện Quang, Venerable Thích Hạnh Thu.

Venerable Thích Hạnh Thu is a disciple of Most Venerable Thích Như Niệm, abbot of Pháp Hoa Pagoda. The Venerable is a Member of the Social Charity Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Sangha, Secretary of the District Buddhist Representative Board, and regularly organises rice and gift distributions for the poor and those affected by natural disasters and floods...

The Tuệ Tĩnh Đường City Clinic, managed by Venerable Thích Hạnh Thu, has, over 13 years of operation, provided medical examinations for 468,000 people and distributed free medicine with a total cost of over 3.5 billion VND.

To date, Phú Long Pagoda has had seven generations of abbots and has undergone three major renovations in 1945, 1954, and 1998. Nevertheless, the pagoda has retained the architectural features of an ancient Buddhist pagoda in the Southern region.

The pagoda's architecture follows the tứ trụ (four-pillar) style, with yin-yang tiled roofs; all beams and columns are made of wood, and the complex includes: the main hall, ancestral hall (tổ đường), upper hall (tằng đường), and monks' quarters (trai đường). Each area bears unique artistic marks, shown in the skilful carvings on statues and horizontal lacquered boards (hoành phi) for visitors to admire.

The pagoda currently preserves 53 antique wooden artefacts (38 statues, 6 horizontal lacquered boards, 9 pairs of parallel sentences) and many Buddha images carved from white stone during the pagoda's renovations.

The Buddha Hall is solemnly arranged. In the centre is the statue of the Amitabha Trinity (Di Đà Tam Tôn). The pagoda also retains many ancient statues such as the statue of Bodhisattva Chuẩn Đề, the Ten Kings of the Underworld (Thập Điện Minh Vương), the Giám Trai statue, a set of repentance ritual Buddha statues, and the Four Great Bodhisattvas.