Thien Mu Pagoda - An ancient temple over 400 years old in Viet Nam

Hue city is one of the cities that have a lot of historical sites in Vietnam. Today, let's come with me drop by a new destination in the city - An ancient temple over 400 years old. Thien Mu pagoda is a famous destination for tourists when they visit Hue city, this place is known to have many mystery historical stories that have been kept for hundreds of years since the beginning of construction.

Where is Thien Mu Pagoda?

It's 5 km from the city center, Thien Mu Pagoda is located on Ha Khe hill, the left bank of Huong River. Thien Mu pagoda means "Heavenly lady" was built in 1601 by Lord Nguyen Hoang - the first Lord of the Southern country, it has another name Linh Mu pagoda or "holy lady", this is a place seen as a symbol of the city, and the ancients also considered this as a place to keep the dragon veins of the southern country at that time. From the city, you can go to the Trang Tien bridge come down Tran Hung Dao Street and go ahead along the riverbank 5km to go to Thien Mu pagoda.

The story about Thien Mu Pagoda

Before Thien Mu pagoda have been built, this place was an old temple, a temple of Cham people.
According to the legend, When Lord Nguyen Hoang came to be the governor of Thuan Hua province (Now is Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue in VietNam) and the governor of Quang Nam province. He has trips to consider the location and terrain in this land to prepare for the plot to build a new dynasty for Nguyen Dynasty later. During the ride of a horse along the Huong River to go back to the source, he encountered a small hill that jutting out by the meandering blue water. The location looks like a dragon looking back, this hill is called Ha Khe hill.

The local people telling that every night on the hill, there is an old woman who wearing a red shirt with a kind face and telling everyone: "There will be a Lord come here to build a temple to gather spiritual energy and defend the dragon vein for the mighty Southern country".
After hearing that, Lord Nguyen Hoang was happy because his thought was similar to the wishes of the people here. In 1601 he built Thien Mu pagoda on the hill that faced Huong River.

The architecture of Thien Mu Pagoda

Thien Mu Pagoda gate was built with four pillars and stairs leading up. The pagoda is divided into several zones, in which, in front of the entrance gate is the location of Phuoc Duyen tower, with a towering architecture of 21m high, including 7 feet inside. There is a spiral staircase leading to the top floor where there used to place a golden Buddha image before. In addition, on the roof lay the wheel of Dharma (this is a symbol of Buddhism). Phuoc Duyen Tower is located in front of the main entrance gate and around the towering campus are shrines where stone steles are placed. Besides, this is a famous symbol associated with Thien Mu Pagoda with a lot of natural beauty and ancient features, so Thien Mu has become one of the most beautiful pagodas in the Southern country at that time.

Stepping deep inside is the place of many large-scale architectural works such as Thien Vuong palace, Dai Hung palace, Tang Kinh floor, and others. Because over hundreds of years of history, some relics today no longer exist and due to the impact of the pandemic, Thien Mu Pagoda has closed the entrance to the main hall, which contains many precious and historical treasures. I hope when the pandemic is over, this place will reopen to welcome tourists early in the new year 2022.

Thien Mu Pagoda isn't a place for couples

Besides the story about formation, there is another story that attracts young people when coming here. The story goes that, in this land, there was a boy and girl who were passionately in love. Unlucky, old-fashioned thought does not accept a man who isn't rich and from a low background can marry the daughter of a famous lady. This couple is also in the same situation, so their love can't be accepted by the girl's family. Too miserable for fate, both decide to throw themselves down at the wharf in front of Thien Mu Pagoda. But only the boy died, the girl drifted to the riverbank and was rescued by the local people. Then the girl's heartbreak was almost healed over time. Meanwhile, the boy was still waiting for the girl in the place of death, but he never found that girl. He got angry and "entered" Thien Mu Pagoda and put a curse of hatred here. Since then, people spread the curse that: " If any couple comes here together, their ending won't be happy". Until now, this curse has not been lifted, so Thien Mu pagoda is known as a place that isn't for couples.
Some others think that is just a story woven by the people here to avoid couples coming to do bad things in the holy place, but besides that, some couples have also admitted that they are breaking up like this curse. Anyway, couples often avoid going to this temple.

Souvenir Shop and some services around this place

Come here to visit Thien Mu Pagoda you can stop by the souvenirs shop and buy something you want about Hue City such as conical hats that are the symbol of Hue women. Besides, you can also enjoy a round on romantic the Huong River on dragon boats served at any time of the day. Finally, if you like adventure games, then SUB (Stand-up paddleboarding) is the best choice, you can play in the early morning or afternoon and take a boat ride on the Huong River by yourself to admire the wonderful beauty of the two riverbanks.

The above is all the things I know when visiting Thien Mu Pagoda. Through this article, I hope to provide some useful information for those who haven't been to Thien Mu Pagoda or can recall some beautiful memories for those who have come and visited this ancient temple. And perhaps this place will be a place on the list of upcoming trips for those who love and want to come to Hue again.

Thank you for reading at the end of my article and wish you have a good day.