Head of Linh Quang Pagoda Cultural Relic Management Board Do Kim Long stands beside the pagoda’s grand bell, cast in 1795

An old pagoda has passed the tests of time, surviving fires and harsh weather.

Records at the pagoda say documentation of the site was begun by head monk Zen Master Nguyen Van Canh in 1747, but historians are unclear as to exactly when it was built.

According to Do Kim Long, 67, head of Linh Quang Pagoda Cultural Relic Management Board, the pagoda was probably built by Nguyen Van Canh, thus sometime between the late 17th to the mid-18th century.

In its early days, Linh Quang Pagoda was a small hermitage on a desolate hill. It had three sets of books of Buddhist sutras, 13 copper statues of Kwan Yin Bodhisattva, a wooden statue of Sakya Muni Buddha, and some porcelain vases and art.

After a fire in the mid-18th century, only seven copper statues of Kwan Yin and a few other artifacts remained.

After the fire, locals rebuilt Linh Quang Pagoda and the site still boasts a grand copper bell and a leather drum made hundreds of years ago. The drum was made in the early 18th century while the bell was cast in 1795.

Sacred rock

During the reconstruction after the fire, locals began to talk of a “lucky rock” at Tranh Islet, near Phu Quy.

Fishermen said the rock brought them good luck when it emerged out of the water and bad luck on days when it wasn’t visible under the tides.

Locals then plucked the rock from the sea and took it to the pagoda, where they built several statues with it for good luck.

The first king of the Nguyen Dynasty, Nguyen Phuc Anh (1762-1820), also known as Emperor Gia Long, took refuge at Linh Quang Pagoda while he was on the run from the Tay Son army in the 1780s. He renovated the pagoda after retaking the throne years later.

The government declared the site a National Cultural Relic in 1986.

Today, Linh Quang Pagoda is a must-see site for anyone who visits Phu Quy Island.

Reported by Que Ha