Kim Lien Pagoda

Seen from the Âu Cơ Dike, the gate of Kim Liên Pagoda rises in tiers of stacked roofs, their curved corners drawn against the sky and the water of West Lake behind.

The pagoda stands in Nghi Tàm village, on a narrow strip of land between West Lake and the Red River dike. The village has long been known for growing mulberry and flowers.

A legend tied to local records goes back to the reign of Emperor Lý Thần Tông, from 1128 to 1138. His daughter, Princess Từ Hoa, came to the Nghi Tàm area and founded the Tàm Tang farm. There she taught the villagers to grow mulberry and raise silkworms. After the princess died, the villagers built a pagoda to worship her. Over the centuries the pagoda carried several names. In the Lê period it was called Đại Bi, and in the Trần period, Đồng Long.

The name Kim Liên appears around 1771. According to material recorded by the National Cultural Heritage Council, Lord Trịnh Sâm renamed the pagoda. The Trịnh lords were a noble family who dominated northern Vietnam. The lord chose Kim Liên, which means golden lotus, to go with the wide expanse of West Lake beside it. That name has lasted to this day.

What draws the attention of heritage experts is the pagoda's unusual layout. The newspaper Nhân Dân, citing experts, reports that it is built in the shape of the character Tam, which means three. Three buildings run side by side, each with a roof in two tiers. The wooden roof corners are carved as stylized dragons, lotus flowers and tiger faces. Brick walls with round, patterned windows join the three buildings. It is one of only two pagodas in northern Vietnam that still keep this style of building. The other is Tây Phương Pagoda in Thạch Thất.

The gate has roofs in several tiers, and it feels solemn and light at once. Seen from the lake side early in the morning, when slanting sunlight crosses the tiled roofs and the water is still calm, the view is a rare one in Hanoi.

Within the grounds, one report on the pagoda records a stone stele from the third year of the Thái Hòa reign, the year Ất Sửu. That is 1445, in the time of Emperor Lê Nhân Tông. The stele is considered the oldest surviving stone stele in Hanoi. The pagoda also keeps nearly 50 Buddha statues of artistic and historical value.

Kim Liên Pagoda was ranked as a national historical and architectural monument in 1962. In 2016, the National Cultural Heritage Council recommended ranking it as a Special National Monument, in the same round as Đậu Pagoda. That is the highest level in Vietnam's system for ranking monuments.

Kim Liên Pagoda is not the most famous place on the shore of West Lake. Still, architecture, history and the landscape of the lake come together here in their own way. Early in the morning, mist still lies thin on the water and the pagoda bell has just fallen silent. The view from the gate across the lake explains why this small plot of land has kept its name for more than 200 years.