Phuc Nghiem Pagoda – To pagoda- place of worshiping progenitor of “Tu Phap”

Located in a large area in Man Xa village, Ha Man commune ò Thuan Thanh district, Phuc Nghiem Pagoda, originally, was the house of Mr and Mrs. Tu Dinh – parents of Mother Buddha Man Nuong, the became the place for Buddhist-worshipping. According to documents and stories, the pagoda’s construction and existence have relationship with a system of four local pagodas named “Tu Phap” and the import of Buddhism to Vietnam. Therefore, another name of the pagoda is To pagoda (aka Original pagoda) – where worships the progenitor of “Tu Phap” in Vietnamese religion.

To pagoda’s structure nowadays is a complex of works, including: three doorways, Façade house, House for burning preceding Lamas (senior or head Buddhist monks), House for monks… and Man Nuong’s well, known as the place that Man Nuong pitched her magic stick to call for rain and help the local people to get over drought.

At present, the pagoda still preserves a system of Buddha statues, documents in Han Nom (former writing of Vietnamese people), includes: parallel sentences, Han characters, 2 stone steles carved with words “Phuc Nghiem Pagoda stories” built in 1751 and 1849, a cooper bell named “Phuc Nghiem pagoda’s bell” of Nguyen period.

With these typical values, Phu Nghiem pagoda was ranked as the architectural relic by the Ministry of Information and Culture in 2001.