Phước Lâm Pagoda

Phước Lâm Pagoda, also known as Ông Miêng Pagoda, is an ancient pagoda located in Xóm Chùa hamlet, Tân Lân commune, Tây Ninh province, Vietnam.

In 1880, a physician and landowner in Tân Lân village, Mr. Bùi Văn Minh, took the initiative to build this pagoda both to worship the Buddha and to serve as an ancestral hall for the Bùi family. The pagoda's name in Chinese characters is Phước Lâm Tự (福林寺), however, it is commonly called Ông Miêng Pagoda by the people due to the custom of avoiding the given name Minh. Because of his contributions to the village, Mr. Minh was honoured as a hậu hiền (venerated ancestor) after his death and included in the communal worship at Tân Lân đình (communal house).

In its overall layout, the pagoda consists of three parts: the main hall and ancestral hall, the stupa area, and the kitchen house. The main hall is a large building constructed in the bánh ít (pyramid-shaped) style, with a green stone foundation and brick walls. All the pagoda's columns are made of precious wood in a round shape, set on green stone bases, connected by a system of crossbeams, trusses, and roof frames, creating a spacious and airy interior. The interior of Phước Lâm Pagoda's main hall still retains its ancient features despite many renovations, with more than 40 statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, the Jade Emperor, attendants, the Ten Kings of Hell, Good and Evil spirits, Dharma protectors, Vajrapāṇi, and many sets of elaborately gilded and lacquered bao lam (decorative screens), horizontal boards, and parallel sentences. Most of the Buddha statues are made of wood and bronze, crafted in the 19th century, with an artistic style deeply imbued with the Buddhist culture of Southern Vietnam.

Especially notable is the roof architecture, which uses the đấu-củng (bracket) structure in the style of the Lý-Trần dynasties of Vietnam, covered with traditional yin-yang glazed tiles. This is a representative work in the restoration of ancient Vietnamese architectural imagery, particularly from the glorious period of the Lý and Trần dynasties.

On 28 December 2001, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) issued Decision No. 53/2001-QĐ-BVHTT, classifying the pagoda as a national-level architectural and artistic heritage site.