Do Pagoda (Linh Do Temple)

Do Pagoda (Red Pagoda), formally Linh Do Tu, lies in a small lane off Le Lai street in Ngo Quyen district, Hai Phong. It is considered one of the most sacred pagodas of the port city and is ranked a national relic.

Legend holds that the site was once a riverside sandbank where bodies of the drowned washed ashore, so villagers built a small pagoda to pray for the salvation of those unfortunate souls — hence the formal name Linh Do ("spiritual deliverance"). In 1288, when Grand Prince Tran Hung Dao surveyed the An Duong area preparing to destroy O Ma Nhi's fleet retreating through the Bach Dang estuary, he had his army's kitchens set up at the pagoda, keeping its fires constantly red — giving the pagoda its popular name, the Red Pagoda. After Tran Hung Dao's death, villagers built two shrines beside the pagoda honoring him and his trusted generals, notably Pham Ngu Lao.

The present pagoda rises 26 m in a rare co diem chong dau style with three tiers and twenty roofs — an architectural form considered unique among Vietnamese pagodas. It comprises three main halls (front, middle and rear sanctuary) and houses one of the largest wooden Buddha statues in Vietnam. Major festivals such as Vu Lan and Buddha's Birthday draw large crowds of pilgrims.