One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the capital of Vietnam. As you visit Hanoi in Vietnam, you will come various other monuments, parks and historic places. However, One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi reflects the architectural splendor that this country has grown.

One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi was built originally in 1049 during the Ly dynasty.

Located in Ngoc Ha in Ba Dinh district, Hanoi, this pagoda is located on the west side of the original capital of Thang Long. According to the legend, King Ly Thai To of the Ly dynasty had saw in his dream that Goddess Quan Am sat on a lotus leaf and gifted him a son. Soon after the king saw this dream, the king married a rustic girl of peasantry class and begot a son from his wife. The king became so overwhelmingly happy that he constructed a wooden pagoda on a stilt in a lake so that the goddess of Mercy- Quan Am, could be venerated and the long life of his son could be ensured. He named the pagoda- Dien Huu, which means happiness and good luck which According to a theory, the pagoda was built in a style so as to resemble a lotus emerging out of the water.

 

Later, One Pillar Pagoda succumbed many a times to the ravages caused the colonial powers. It was severely destroyed even till 1954 when the French forces were beating a retreat. The present form of One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi was built in 1955 when the pagoda was refurbished with a concrete pillar from its remnants by the Vietnamese government. Today's structure can be just called the replica of the original pagoda, which was a large building. Locals believe that if you pray in this pagoda, it will invoke well-being and fertility. You are also advised to wear full-length clothes as you visit this place.