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> One Pillar
Pagoda
It
is a group of structures consisting of a pagoda
and a tower built in the middle of a square lake.
The whole group was officially called Dien Huu
Pagoda and Lien Hoa Tower, but the tower has
traditionally been called the One-Pillar Pagoda.
It is of a square shape and each side is nine feet
long with a curved roof placed on a round stone
pillar. The pillar is approximately 4 feet in
diameter, twelve feet high (excluding the
underground section) supporting a system of beams
of timber, thus making up a framework for the
tower resembling a blossoming lotus stretching up
out of the square pond that has a surrounding
brick wall. From the edge, there is a narrow brick
path running through the pond to a nice ladder
leading up into the Buddhist tower where there is
a notice reading that the Lotus tower and pagoda
were built in memory of a dream had by King Ly.
The inscription states "King Ly Thai Tong
(1028-1054) dreamt of seeing the Quan An Buddha
sitting on a lotus tower to which the King was
led. Upon waking, the King told his lords about
his dream and sought their advice. Some of them
advised him to build a stone pillar in the middle
of the pond and place a Buddhist's lotus tower on
the pillar just as the King had dreamt." Then
Buddhist monks were asked to pray and worship for
the King's longevity. Consequently, the pagoda was
called "lasting life" (Dien Huu) and that took
place in 1049.
The One-Pillar Pagoda has undergone numerous
changes and repairs. On September 11, 1954 before
their withdrawal, the French army mined and
destroyed the Lien Hoa Dai. When the liberation
forces took over Hanoi, the government rebuilt the
pagoda in accordance with its original structure
and completed it in April 1955.
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