Vinh Trang Pagoda

Seen from the outside, Vĩnh Tràng Pagoda looks like a puzzle.

Its three-entrance gate is covered in brightly colored shards of pottery and porcelain. On it are the four sacred creatures and scenes from Buddhist stories. The front of the building has Roman arches, ornament that recalls the European Renaissance, and French wrought iron. Inside, though, the space is entirely different. There are finely carved wooden screens, statues for worship, inscribed boards and couplets. And there are rows of seated arhats, disciples of the Buddha who reached enlightenment. All of it carries the spirit of Vietnamese sculpture.

This is not a design mistake. It is the very nature of Vĩnh Tràng Pagoda.

The pagoda stands on Nguyễn Trung Trực Street, in Mỹ Phong ward. It lies in Đồng Tháp province, about 3 kilometers from the center of Mỹ Tho, in the Mekong Delta.

The story of the pagoda begins in the early 19th century. The district magistrate Bùi Công Đạt had a small hermitage built here. Later, the Venerable Huệ Đăng rallied the faithful to turn it into a great pagoda. The work was finished in 1849, and the pagoda was named Vĩnh Trường. This name is linked to a couplet. Its two lines open with the words Vĩnh and Trường. The couplet says that the pagoda will stand as firm as the mountains and rivers, and last as long as heaven and earth. People here came to call it Vĩnh Tràng, and that name has stayed with it to this day.

On August 30, 1984, the pagoda was ranked a national monument of history and culture. On December 6, 1989, it was also ranked a national monument of architecture and art. The two honors came more than five years apart, one for what the pagoda has lived through, one for the beauty it carries.

Inside, every detail deserves a slow look.

The three-entrance gate is the best place to start. Shards of stoneware and porcelain are pieced together into decorative pictures. They show the dragon, the unicorn, the tortoise and the phoenix, along with flowers and leaves. Each small piece is set in exactly the right place to build the larger whole. This is a distinctive handcraft. Nothing here is painted or drawn. The pictures are made by setting colored pieces, one at a time.

Next comes the front of the pagoda. There is Renaissance ornament, Roman arches, French-style wrought iron, and a floor of glazed tiles with a Japanese touch. Many people who saw only the facade, without knowing this is a pagoda, might take it for a European building. But inside, the story changes.

The pagoda has four sections, one behind another: the front hall, the main hall, the hall of the founding monks and the rear hall. The grounds cover about 14,000 square meters. The row of halls itself is 70 meters long and 20 meters wide. The layout follows the shape of the character Quốc in Chinese script. That means a square set within a square, with passages that connect them.

In the main hall, look for the arhats. The pagoda has 18 of them, carved from jackfruit wood in the early 20th century. Each statue is about 80 centimeters tall. Each arhat has his own pose, his own face and his own expression. Together they make a special set of wood carvings that belongs to this pagoda. But the arhats are only part of it. The pagoda also keeps 60 precious statues, made of bronze, wood and terracotta. It also has seven sets of carved screens showing the Eight Immortals, figures from old tales.

Another object worth a look is a bell called Pháp Bảo Chuông. It was cast in the fifth month of 1854. Its body bears the name of the pagoda in Chinese characters: Vĩnh Trường Tự. Today the bell can no longer ring. Still, it quietly keeps a record of the pagoda in the middle of the 19th century, almost right after the great pagoda was finished.

Two great statues stand outdoors in the grounds, rising under the sky of the Mekong Delta. The Amitabha Buddha stands 24 meters tall, silent and at rest. The second figure is Maitreya, the Buddha of the future. This statue weighs 250 metric tons and stands 20 meters tall. It was inaugurated in 2010, and the smile of the Maitreya Buddha can be seen from far away.

The grounds also hold an ornamental garden, a lotus pond and old trees. After so many halls full of carving, stepping out here lets the eyes rest. The old trees shade the paths and the lotus pond lies still in the garden, so the place feels both open and solemn.

The blend of Asia and Europe at Vĩnh Tràng Pagoda is not an accident. Nor does it come from indecision. It shows that in the early 20th century, the Vietnamese of the Mỹ Tho area took in influences from many directions. Yet they kept their own identity where it mattered most. They kept it in the statues of worship, the carving, the faith, and the way they understood a religious space.

Before leaving, look back at the facade. Roman arches, Renaissance ornament, French wrought iron. Inside are the wooden arhats, the carved screens of the Eight Immortals, the bronze bell from the 19th century. All of it in one pagoda. That is Vĩnh Tràng.