One Pillar Pagoda
Chùa Một Cột (Diên Hựu tự)
A tiny shrine perched on one stone column in a lotus pond
- Hours
- Daily about 7am–6pm
- Tickets
- Free
- Address
- Chua Mot Cot Street, between the mausoleum and the Ho Chi Minh Museum
A single stone column rises from a square pond, and on top sits a one-room wooden shrine shaped like an opening lotus. Tradition dates it to 1049 under the Ly dynasty; the current structure was rebuilt after French troops blew it up in 1954. Climb the steps and there's barely room to bow before the Bodhisattva of Mercy before shuffling on. Walking around the pond is said to help couples conceive, so a steady stream of Vietnamese pairs come to pray.