Sac Tu Khai Doan Pagoda

In the heart of Buôn Ma Thuột, the noise of the streets carries on. Yet there is one quiet place where almost everyone who passes stops for a while.

This is Sắc Tứ Khải Đoan Pagoda, on Phan Bội Châu Street. It is the largest pagoda in the city. An official document of the Đắk Lắk Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism calls it the first pagoda of a Buddhist organization in Đắk Lắk during the revival of Buddhism in Vietnam. It is also presented as the last pagoda in Vietnam to receive the title of sắc tứ.

The name Khải Đoan was not chosen at random. According to the provincial Culture and Tourism Center and many other sources, it joins the names of two members of the royal family. The first word, Khải, comes from Emperor Khải Định. The second, Đoan, comes from Empress Dowager Đoan Huy, who is also credited with laying the foundations of the pagoda. She was the mother of Emperor Bảo Đại. Bảo Đại was the last emperor of Vietnam.

Construction of the pagoda began in 1951. The plot of land was donated by the Empress Dowager. In December of the year Tân Mão, 1951, a ceremony laid the foundation stone of the ancestral hall. The Venerable Thích Đức Thiệu was chosen as abbot to oversee the building. In 1953, in the time of Bảo Đại, the pagoda received the title of sắc tứ. This came at the ceremony marking the completion of the Hậu Tổ hall. These milestones rest on official records, not on stories passed down by word of mouth.

The title sắc tứ needs a word of explanation. The provincial center explains that under the monarchy, a sắc tứ was a royal order granted to a special pagoda. The Nguyễn dynasty was Vietnam's last royal dynasty, and it reigned from 1802 to 1945. Under it, a pagoda given this title was usually a famous site of large scale. So Sắc Tứ Khải Đoan is a link between the Nguyễn dynasty, the Buddhism of central Vietnam and the land of the Central Highlands.

The architecture is a meeting of two styles. The main hall is described as a blend of the wooden royal-court houses of Hue and the stilt houses of the Central Highlands. Its wooden columns stand on stone bases about 2.7 meters high. The roof is covered in yin-yang tiles, the timbers are precious wood, and the decoration shows two dragons facing the moon. From the front, the curved tile roof and the wooden columns recall the architecture of Hue. The raised floor and the airy, open feeling bring to mind the stilt houses of the Central Highlands.

The grounds follow a single axis. In front stands the Tam Quan gate, then the main hall, and behind it the Hậu Tổ hall. To the left of the main hall is the Hall of the Bodhisattva Quán Thế Âm. Quán Thế Âm is the bodhisattva of compassion. The provincial center says the hall was built in 1970. Another source says work began in 1968 and the hall was inaugurated in 1970.

Inside the main hall are a statue of the Shakyamuni Buddha and a large bronze bell. A photo caption gives the bronze statue a height of 1.1 meters, on a lotus pedestal of precious wood.

This is a working place of worship. The pagoda is the office of the Executive Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha for Đắk Lắk Province. The Venerable Thích Châu Quang is the abbot here, and the board organizes the Buddhist work of the monks across the province.

At the start of the year, the grounds welcome a great many local people and visitors who come to enjoy the spring and pay their respects. Khải Đoan is more than a place to admire architecture. It is a living gathering place for the spirit, kept by the community.

The Central Highlands are not only mountains, forests and villages. Many streams of culture meet here, settle, and go on living in the present.