Tứ Kỳ Pagoda

Tứ Kỳ Pagoda, also known as Linh Tiên Tự, is located in Tứ Kỳ village, Hoàng Liệt ward, Hà Nội. The pagoda was recognised as a historical and cultural relic in 1995.

According to a stele engraved in the second month of the 8th year of the Chính Hòa era (1687), the pagoda may have been built in this year.

The pagoda was constructed on a high, dry plot of land to the northeast of the village. On the outside is the tam quan (triple-arched gate), followed by the stele house, the front hall (tiền đường), the upper hall (thượng điện), the Tổ house (ancestral hall), the Mẫu house (Mother Goddess hall), and the stupa garden.

The imposing tam quan is carved with dragons and phoenixes, looking truly majestic. Beyond the tam quan are two stele houses in the style of a square pavilion with layered roofs; in each house is a stone stele placed on the back of a turtle.

The front hall consists of five bays and two side compartments, with gable walls sealed at the ends and throne-shaped armrests. The truss structure is of the stacked beam and crossbeam type, with the roof divided into upper and lower tiers. The upper hall is a single-bay building, connected to the front hall in the shape of the letter Đinh (丁). The Tổ house is built in the style of sealed gable walls, with simple architecture using new materials from the 1993 restoration. The Mẫu house consists of five bays. The arrangement of worshipped statues is simpler than in other pagodas, as it lacks the sets of Khuyến Thiện, Trừng Ác, the Ten Kings of Hell (Thập điện Diêm vương), and the Cửu Long throne.

Against the rear wall of the front hall, on the right is the statue of the Sages (Thánh Hiền), on the left is the statue of Đức Ông; near the Sages' statue is a rather large bell inscribed with "Linh Tiên Tự", cast in the first year of Thiệu Trị (1841).

Along the central bay of the upper hall is a brick altar system displaying sets of statues: Quan Âm Nam Hải (Avalokiteśvara of the Southern Sea) in the centre, flanked by two Bodhisattvas; behind them is the set of Amitābha Trinity (A Di Đà tam tôn), and at the very back, highest up, is the set of Three Worlds Buddhas (Tam thế).

The rear wall houses the Mẫu shrine; on the stone pedestal is a statue believed to be Chánh vương Phủ Thị Nội Cung Tần of the Nguyễn family, named Diệu Tâm, as well as statues of the Five Revered Lords (Ngũ vị tôn ông), Quan Hoàng, and Đức Thánh Trần. The statues in the Tổ house all depict seated postures with compassionate faces.