Xa Loi Buddhist Temple

89 Bà Huyện Thanh Quan, Võ Thị Sáu, Quận 3, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 70000, Vietnam

Now Open

Description

The Xá Loi Pagoda is the largest pagoda in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. It was constructed in 1956 and served as the Buddhist headquarters in South Vietnam. The pagoda is located in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3 on a 5000-square-meter land. The word S Loi is the Vietnamese version of arra, the Buddhist phrase for relics.

On 21 August 1963, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngo Dinh Nhu, the brother of the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem, invaded and vandalized Buddhist monasteries and pagodas. The pagoda is well remembered for these events.

Architecture of Xa Loi Buddhist Temple

There are a variety of structures on the property, including the main ceremonial hall and the bell tower. By a gated fence, the pagoda is secluded from the street. Inside the fence is a well-known Chinese-style statue of Quan Am holding a vial of elixir in one hand and clearing obstructions with the other. The pagoda’s main hall is located on the upper level. Men ascend the stairs on the left, while women ascend the steps on the right. The hall has a rectangular design and is supported by columns. The shrine, which faces the entryway, is dominated by a massive figure of Gautama Buddha.

The Gautama statue represents the Buddha meditating atop a lotus flower. His attire is that of a monk. As usual, he is shown with jewelry-elongated ears (signifying his royal heritage), closely cropped curly hair (signifying renunciation of the earthly life), and a prominent head protuberance (indicating aptitude). In back of his head is a solar disc. Sculptors from Bien Hoa, a city immediately north of Ho Chi Minh City, created this statue. It has been in its present form since 1969, when a gold covering was applied. In front of the statue of Gautama Buddha is a shrine devoted to the Buddha’s relics, which are housed in a tiny stupa. In front of the temple stands a little porcelain statue of Maitreya, the future Buddha, also known as the “Laughing Buddha.” Between the small statue of Maitreya and the great statue of Gautama is a golden image of the many-armed bodhisattva Cundi (Chuan De) meditating on a lotus. The several hands of the bodhisattva hold recognizable objects such as the sword, the wheel, and the trident. On either side of the shrine, elegant Chinese-style vases display flowers of various hues.

Large panels showing fourteen scenes from the life of Gautama Buddha, from his birth as Prince Siddhartha to his attainment of nirvana, line the walls of the main hall. The photos were created by Gia Dinh Art School’s Dr. Nguyen Van Long. The arrangement of the paintings on the two side walls recalls the portrayals of the life of Jesus or the Stations of the Cross found in various Christian churches.

The Xa Loi Pagoda’s bell tower was inaugurated in 1961. The tower’s 32-meter height and seven floors make it Vietnam’s tallest bell tower. On the uppermost level, there is a two-tonne bell that was fashioned after the bell of Hue’s Thien Mu Pagoda.

History of Xa Loi Buddhist Temple

The architects were Tran Van Duong and Do Ba Vinh, while the directing engineers were Du Ngoc Anh and Ho To Thuan. Construction began on August 5, 1956, in accordance with their designs. On 2 May 1958, the pagoda was inaugurated by the Most Venerable Thich Khanh Anh. The pagoda was constructed to house a portion of Gautama Buddha’s remains, hence its name.

In reaction to the Vietnamese Buddhists’ dedication to civil rights in the face of religious persecution by the administration of Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem, a series of raids were conducted. At approximately 00:20 on August 21, 1963, Special Forces squads commanded by Le Quang Tung and combat police crashed through the pagoda’s gates while Xa Loi’s brass gong rang as a warning of the attack. Armed with handguns, submachine guns, carbines, shotguns, grenades, and tear gas, Nhu’s soldiers were prepared for battle. The Special Forces were joined by truckloads of military camouflage-clad combat cops. The monks and nuns who had barricaded themselves behind wooden shields were assaulted with bayonets and rifle butts. The pagoda’s bell was drowned out by the sound of automatic weapons fire, exploding grenades, shattered glass, and human screams. One monk was flung six meters from the balcony to the courtyard below. Nhu’s soldiers destroyed the main altar and were able to seize Thich Quang Duc’s intact burnt heart, who had self-immolated in protest of the regime’s policies. Two monks scaled the pagoda’s rear wall and landed on the grounds of the adjacent US Aid Mission, where they were granted sanctuary.

Vietnam’s 80-year-old Buddhist patriarch, Thich Tinh Khiet, was captured and sent to a military hospital on the outskirts of Saigon. General Ton That Dinh, commander of the ARVN’s III Corps, will shortly declare military authority over Saigon, cancel all commercial aircraft into the city, and institute press censorship. Hundreds were thought to have killed or vanished around the country, and more than a thousand monks were imprisoned.

The pagoda functioned as the Vietnamese Buddhist Association’s headquarters until 1981, then as its second office until May 1993.