Hanoi is home to an exquisite array of Buddhist temples and pagoda dotting the Southeast Asian city’s spiritual landscape, infusing it with a welcome sense of serenity. Visitors wishing to soak in the culture would enjoy it from one of many executive apartments Hanoi offers the discerning traveller seeking accommodation in Hanoi Vietnam. A quality offering is the Somerset West Lake Hanoi from which business and leisure guests can absorb the breathtaking views of the lake from spacious, modern accommodation with stylish amenities. The One Pillar Pagoda is regarded as one of the country’s most iconic temples. It was built by Emperor Ly Thai Tong who ruled in the early eleventh century. According to archived records, the emperor prayed to the bodhisattva Avalokatheshvara to grant him a child. The bodhisattva came to him in a dream while sitting on a lotus and handed him a child. The emperor then met and married a local peasant girl who bore him a child, and he built the temple in gratitude on a pillar in the middle of a lotus pond, similar to the one in the dream. The temple is made of wood on a pillar that is 1.25m in diameter and has a beautiful shrine dedicated to the Bodhisattva of Mercy within. The temple was shaped into a lotus blossom, which is an iconic symbol of Buddhist purity, as the Lotus blooms in muddy ponds. Although the temple was destroyed by French forces in 1954, it was restored to its former glory afterwards. The city of Saigon bears a replica of the famous One Pillar Pagoda, built in the early 1960s. The pagoda is a gorgeous tribute to a touching local legend and must be visited when one is next in Vietnam’s captivating capital Hanoi.
Angela Fernando is an impassioned travel writer who composes pieces under the pen name Sumaira Narayan. She loves writing about new and exciting places around the world and intends to visit them all someday.
Google+
