Thien Mu pagoda in Hue

4.9/5 - (85 votes)

Hue is the buddism center of Viet Nam with more than 150 pagodas. In all of them , Thien Mu pagoda has a very important position because of the history related to Nguyen royal family , the nice view, and the best location where it stands. Since the beginning of Hue tourism, the view of Thien Mu pagoda on the river side has been the symbol for The city. Tourists everywhere come here to see the iconic view of Hue and enjoy the peaceful feeling when entering the land of Buddha monks. Nowadays, Thien Mu pagoda still hold special meaning to people here and it is always in the top list of places that tourists must visit.

» Tombs in Hue city – Viet Nam

» Hue Citadel in Hue Tour

 

 

Thien Mu Pagoda - Hue city tour
Thien Mu Pagoda – Hue city tour

History of Thien Mu pagoda

More than 400 years ago, land lord Nguyen Hoang from north Viet Nam came to Thuan Hoa land ( Hue city today), turned it from an isolated land into a busy living area.

On one nice day, the lord rode his horse along the riverside to Ha Khe hill. When he stopped here , the local people told him a story about one old lady from heaven coming to the hill on full moon night, telling that the King would come here soon and build a pagoda on the hill to pray for the country. The lord was surprised and he thought that he was the king in the story of the lady and then, he built the pagoda in 1601.

The pagoda was call Thien Mu ( heavenly lady) because of that story.

bia "Ngự kiến Thiên Mụ Tự" chùa Thiên mụ
bia “Ngự kiến Thiên Mụ Tự” chùa Thiên mụ

Architecture of the pagoda

Most of the tourists mistake that thien mu pagoda is the 7-stores tower in the front side. Actually, the temple was built in 1844 by the 3rd king. The Thien Mu pagoda built in 1601 is the one from the 3-entrance gate to the end. Walking through the entrance , you will see Dai Hung temple , the main temple of the pagoda and a big garden behind it. At the end of the pagoda is the tomb of Buddha monk Thich Don Hau, the old leader of the pagoda, who had a lot of contribution to the budhism of Hue and Viet Nam. The living are of the Buddha monks today is located on the right of the pagoda. In the garden, there is an important historical relic of Viet Nam, a car that related to the event in Viet Nam war in 1963, when Buddha monk thich quang Duc burned himself to fight for freedom in religion. It is the symbol for the fighting of Vietnamese for freedom.

When is the best time to visit Thien mu pagoda?

The pagoda is opened the whole day, so you can visit it anytime at your convenience. However, it is quite dark at night, so you should visit it before 6pm. In the evening, you can see beautiful sunset from the pagoda.

đại hồng chung – thiên mụ citadel

How to get to the pagoda?

There are many ways to get there : car, bike, scooter or cyclo. You can also get there by taking a dragon boat trip which is 30 minutes from the boat station at city center . Because you are not the local people and do not know the good service and price, you should consult your hotel’s staff of some credible tourism companies for a good transfer.

There are many others nice monuments in Hue . You can visit them on your own but we highly recommend you take a hue city tour because they can organize the time and the route in a good way so that you can save your time. Hue vacations company offers Hue group city tour in small size, which can meet your demand in discovering the history, culture and saving money for the others trips. Please contact us for more information.