Formerly,it was a small leaf hermitage set up in the early 19th century byDistrict Chief Bui Cong Dat. In 1849, the Most Venerable Abbot ThichHue Dang put it up a big pagoda and named it Vinh Trang Pagoda. TheAbbot’s successor was the Most Venerable Thich Thien De. In 1890,lay-Buddhists came to the Royal-Chartered Linh Thuu Pagoda to invitethe Most Venerable Thich Chanh Hau take charge of the Abbot of thePagoda. In 1895, he had the Pagoda reconstructed. The pagoda has manynetlike panels, horizontal boards and oblong boards of the parallelsentences. These netlike panels were elaborately carved. The MostVenerable Thich Minh Dang who had the Triple Gate, the main hall andthe Patria. The pagoda has many netlike panels, horizontal boards andoblong boards of the parallel sentences.

Close eyes to the pagoda

VinhTrang Pagoda is the greatest pagoda of Tien Giang Province, in an areaof 2,000m2 with many beautiful trees. It was built in 1849 in My Phongvillage, My Tho City, in the shape of  “Nation” letter of Chinesecharacters. The pagoda includes four large departments connected witheach other: the front department, the main department, the worshipdepartment and the back department, bearing a combination ofEuropean-Asian architecture and creating a splendid beauty, solemnity,but purity.

Thebeautiful structure features a mixture of Chinese, Vietnamese andAngkor (Cambodian) architectural styles. The pagoda consists of fivebuildings, two ornamental yards and 178 pillars. The extremelybeautiful structures in the pagoda are two triumphal arches bearing anart of inserting bottle and porcelain fragments which create harmoniouspictures illustrating the Buddha’s legendaries. Inside the pagoda,there is a set of pictures “eight angels riding on animals” another setof statues of the Amitabha Holy Trinity carved in bronze, as big as aman, and more particularly, the set of the eighteen Arhants, woodcarving work, is the only one, not two, in the west of South Vietnam,made by a snumber of artists in 1907. Graves of Buddhist priests whotook care of the pagoda are scattered around. These graves aredecorated with carefully engraved flagstones.

Thereare three entrances to the pagoda. The central iron gate is alwaysclosed, while the two side gates, which are designed in the co laustyle are open. The side gates are adorned with colorful porcelainmosaics featuring Buddhist folktales and natural scenery. The facade ofVinh Trang Pagoda contains both Asian and European architectureincluding

Accordingto locals, a monk named Minh Dan and an architect named Huynh Tri Phutraveled to Cambodia prior to building the pagoda for inspiration andeventually combined Khmer architecture with European styles for thepagoda. Vinh Trang Pagoda houses 60 precious statues made from copper,wood and terracotta. The most valuable collection is the 18 arhats madefrom jackfruit tree wood in 1907. Additionally, the pagoda has a bellthat was cast in 1854.

Thepagoda is surrounded by gardens of ornamental trees, ancient trees andbonsai, creating a peaceful atmosphere. It provided shelter forVietnamese patriots and is recognized as a national historical andcultural relic by the government.

Thearchitecture of Vinh Trang Pagoda is a harmonious combination of Asianand European types of architecture, creating the splendid, but simplefeatures of this Buddhist pagoda.