Chùa Kim Liên
Lotus-shaped wooden pagoda on a Ly-dynasty princess's former palace grounds beside West Lake.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Chùa Kim Liên in Hanoi begins with a princess, Từ Hoa, daughter of Lý dynasty king Lý Thần Tông, who was given a palace here on West Lake to raise silkworms and weave cloth rather than live in luxury. You'll hear how her memorial shrine grew into a temple, and how Lord Trịnh Sâm renamed it the Golden Lotus in 1771 after folding a neighboring pagoda's worship into it. Among the statues added in that rebuilding sits a puzzle: a robed, noble-looking figure that doesn't quite belong among the Buddhas.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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