Linh Buu Pagoda

Picture a lighthouse on the summit of Mount Cấm (núi Cấm) on Phú Quý island, and below it, on the slope and half hidden in the trees, a temple looking out to sea. This is Linh Bửu Temple. Phú Quý Lighthouse and the temple belong to the same scenic cluster: one stands on the summit, the other sits at the foot of the hill, where the old trees on the mountain give shade all year round. And Linh Bửu is not a monument to admire from a distance: it is a đạo tràng — a living Buddhist community — where the faithful still gather.

Linh Bửu Temple: an island temple raised by many hands

The temple dates from the early 1970s, when the Venerable Thích Từ Huệ from Ninh Thuận built it together with lay Buddhists. At first everything was simple: a main hall and a teaching hall, just enough for the faithful to have a place to practise. What you see today did not appear all at once. In 1999, the faithful built a stupa blending Thai and Vietnamese cultural elements to honour the Venerable Tường Kim. The present main hall was inaugurated in 2018, built gradually with donations from lay Buddhists.

When you arrive, the first thing to hold your eye is the Buddha hall with its two-tiered roof, shaped like a lotus throne: the lower tier spreads wide, the upper tier narrows and rises high. You enter through three main doors; on either side a tower juts out, sculpted in relief with two faces representing ông Thiện and ông Ác, the figures of Good and Evil. The walls carry elaborate reliefs of scenes from the Buddha's life, and the cổ diên — the band of wall between the two roof tiers — is carved with flowers and leaves around a blooming lotus. Inside, Phật Bà Quan Âm (Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion) sits on a lotus throne at the centre, flanked by two statues riding a white elephant and a lion, surrounded by scenes of Buddhist life, with two dragons facing the 卍 (vạn) symbol among flowers and leaves at the very back. The solid, tall buildings are linked together across a wide, open compound.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a temple on an island rather than on the mainland? Every building material has to be shipped out from the mainland, so the cost can be close to three times as much. That is why the island's temples were raised gradually, through the contributions of lay Buddhists. In 2018, Linh Bửu was one of seven temples on Phú Quý island. On the day the main hall was consecrated that year, local Buddhists and Buddhists from the mainland came together for the ceremony; that afternoon there was also a rite of offerings for wandering souls and a performance of hát bộ, a traditional form of classical stage opera, in the local tradition. That is where the temple's meaning lies today: it is still a place where an island community meets, and every part of it is a moment when someone lent a hand.

From a simple main hall, to a stupa, to today's lotus-shaped hall — standing in front of it, you may find yourself asking: what did the people who built this temple, gift by gift, want to keep for their island?

Enough to decide whether to go

What it is

A Buddhist temple and active place of practice (đạo tràng)

Where

On the slope of Mount Cấm, on Phú Quý island, in the same scenic cluster as Phú Quý Lighthouse

Dates from

Early 1970s; present main hall inaugurated in 2018

Most worth seeing

The lotus-shaped, two-tiered Buddha hall; the two towers with the faces of Good and Evil; the stupa built in 1999

Setting

Faces the sea, shaded by the old trees of Mount Cấm

Point of contact

The temple's Ban hộ tự (lay management committee)