Vietnamese National Pagoda 🇻🇳 Saigon, Vietnam

The temple was founded in 1963 but the construction wasn't finished because the Communists captured the city in 1975 and stopped the project. The construction resumed only in 1993, and that's when a 7-story stupa appeared at the place. Even more activity began in 2014 and ended up with the erection of a new stupa with 13 floors at the end of 2018.

This is why, if you visited the city before the pandemic, you hardly had a chance to visit the Vietnamese National Buddhist Temple. I spent a while in Saigon in the 2010s and never even heard about the temple.

I visited the temple on July 6, 2024. The whole place looks fresh out of the box which isn't a compliment in the case of a temple. Sterile and soulless.

However, to my surprise, I found comfort in the main hall of the temple:

The large amount of empty space during the daytime has curing powers in itself in such an overcrowded city as Saigon.

There was also a prayer song playing, creating a certain mood of relaxation. I soon sat down on the floor and began to rest, only occasionally returning to photography.

They also have statues on the left and right of the central altar with Buddha.

These are the enlightened.

One of the bodhisattvas is Ajita:

With the brows resembling noodles.

Another bodhisattva reached such power that could hold a dragon as if it were a regular lizard:

Since 3 pm, more people started coming. I realized the temple is a popular place among the locals at least on weekends.

I spent an hour and a half in the temple, most of which I was just sitting on the floor.

Which was not surprising - I was already starting to get sick with covid although I didn't know it.

I left the place and had a walk around the temple.

One of the findings. Do you see those cigarettes' butts used instead of incense sticks?

It would be sacrilege to use cigarettes instead of candles in a church (in Europe at least), but not in Vietnam. I was told that the smoke is a way to connect with ancestors... And that probably explains everything (does it?).

More stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out my previous posts on my personal Travelfeed or Worldmappin map.

I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on July 6, 2024, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.