Khánh An Monastery

Khánh An Monastery is a grand pagoda located in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City. It is referred to as a monastery to downplay the religious and faith-based aspects. Khánh An Monastery regularly organises retreats, meditation courses, and Satipatthana meditation sessions, attracting the interest of many monks and Buddhists. This is a place that draws people to come for worship and to pay respects at the pagoda; many young people come to participate in short-term retreats and listen to Dharma talks. Khánh An Monastery is closely associated with historical events during the resistance against the French by the army and people of An Phú Đông, District 12. The pagoda has been recognised as a city-level historical site. With its significance as a revolutionary base and a place marking many important events during the resistance against the French by the army and people of An Phú Đông, District 12, along with its unique architecture, Khánh An Pagoda was recognised as a City-level Historical Site by the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on 27 July 2007 under Decision No. 3269/QĐ-UBND. Khánh An Monastery is one of the pagodas with unique architecture, featuring a Japanese temple style, but in reality, the monastery was built entirely in the ancient Vietnamese pagoda style.

Khánh An Monastery (An Phú Đông Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) was originally a small pagoda built by Patriarch Trí Hiền (Master Năm Phận) in 1905. At that time, Mr. Biện Lục donated a plot of land of about 4 hectares to Venerable Trí Hiền to build Khánh An Pagoda. Therefore, local people often called Khánh An Pagoda 'chùa thầy Phận' or 'chùa thầy Năm Phận' (Master Phận’s Pagoda). At that time, Khánh An Pagoda was just a small pagoda situated between the two villages of An Lộc Đông and Hanh Phú (later An Phú Đông), and it was a gathering place for many patriotic fighters participating in the resistance against the French.

In July 1939, the first Party cell of the An Lộc Đông area was established at Khánh An Pagoda. In 1940, the two hamlets of An Lộc Đồng and Hanh Phú merged to become An Phú Đông. The An Phú Đông Party cell at this time had about 20 members. Master Năm Phận, the abbot of Khánh An Pagoda, also joined the Party organisation. Under the leadership of the An Lộc Đông Party cell, from 1939 the revolutionary movement in An Lộc Đông developed increasingly strongly with various forms such as organising rallies demanding tax and corvée reductions, resisting the conscription of Vietnamese youth as cannon fodder for the French, etc. In the face of the strong fighting spirit of the masses, in July 1940, the Nam Kỳ Regional Party Committee held an expanded meeting and decided to prepare for an uprising. Uprising Committees were established.

The Gia Định Provincial Party Committee sent Nguyễn Văn Tiến (also known as Mười Tiến, a Gia Định Provincial Party Committee member) to lead the Uprising Committee in Bình Trị Thượng district. Following instructions from higher levels, members of the An Phú Đông Party cell, including Venerable Thích Trí Hiền, actively organised many activities to prepare for the General Uprising. When the Nam Kỳ Uprising failed, some members of the An Phú Đông Party cell responsible for attacking the Vườn Tiêu Tân Sơn Nhất outpost and the Vĩnh Lộc five-way intersection outpost were arrested, including Venerable Thích Trí Thiện. Venerable Thiện was imprisoned for about a year. Despite the use of brutal torture methods, the French colonialists could not extract any information, so they were forced to release him. However, due to severe injuries from torture, in 1942, Venerable Thích Trí Thiện passed away.

After the abbot passed away, Khánh An Pagoda continued to serve as a secret base for the revolutionary movement. In March 1945, Mười Lụa escaped from prison and returned to An Phú Đông, seeking refuge at Khánh An Pagoda. From there, he contacted Phạm Văn Khải (also known as Bảy Khái), Secretary of the Quới Xuân Commune Party cell, to rebuild the An Phú Đông Party cell. After the Southern Resistance began, in November 1945, the military forces and agencies of Gia Định Province, then stationed in Gò Vấp, withdrew to An Phú Đông. On 25 December 1945, the Gia Định Provincial Resistance Committee decided to establish the An Phú Đông base in the areas of An Phú Đông and Thạnh Lộc communes. Khánh An Pagoda was within the An Phú Đông base and served as a base for the resistance forces. Khánh An Pagoda was also where Squad 17 of the Vệ quốc đoàn (National Defence Corps) produced various rudimentary weapons such as muzzle-loading guns, homemade mines, grenades, etc., to serve the resistance.

Originally, Khánh An Pagoda was just a small pagoda, a gathering place for many patriotic fighters. For this reason, the pagoda was attacked and destroyed by the French colonialists many times. It was not until 2006 that the pagoda was restored and rebuilt to its current grand state. Khánh An Monastery bears the style of Northern School Buddhism, with strong East Asian architectural features. The main hall, named the Mindfulness Buddha Hall, is primarily constructed of wood and serves as the place for chanting and meditation for monks and Buddhists. The monastery’s colour scheme features three main tones: wood brown, the white of lime, and the yellow of decorative patterns. Around the grounds are wooden lanterns covered with paper in hexagonal shapes, commonly seen at festivals or at the entrances of Japanese temples and shrines. On the roofs of the monks’ quarters and guest hall are towers with red colouring and tiled roofs with few dragon or phoenix motifs. The highlight is the tall yellow spire against the sky, an architectural feature often seen in Japanese temples and shrines.

From a distance, Khánh An Monastery stands out with its striking red tones and impressive architectural style. On social media, many poetic names have been given to Khánh An Monastery, such as 'a miniature Japan in Saigon' or 'a pagoda in the style of the Land of the Rising Sun'. However, representatives of Khánh An Monastery have stated that many people mistakenly believe that the monastery was built in the Japanese architectural style, but in fact, the monastery was built entirely in the ancient Vietnamese pagoda style. The colours present are also very familiar to Vietnamese people, such as the red from brick and earth, the grey from smoke, and the white from lime. Khánh An Monastery also does not have dragon, phoenix, or brightly coloured decorative motifs like many other pagodas in the South, as this reflects the culture of the Vietnamese royal court. The distinctive feature of the monastery is the green of the trees. The architecture here does not include dragons, phoenixes, or any mythical creatures.