Phật Bảo Pagoda

Phật Bảo Pagoda (also known as Buddharatanaràma) is one of 22 Theravāda Buddhist pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City. Since the 1930s, Vietnamese Theravāda Buddhism (PGNT) was brought from Cambodia by venerable patriarchs, including the late Most Venerable: Hộ Tông, Giới Nghiêm, Bửu Chơn, Thiện Luật, Tịnh Sự, and others.

This was the very first period when Theravāda Buddhism was propagated in Vietnam, so there was a great need for young monks with knowledge of Buddhist Dharma and culture to join the venerables in spreading the Dharma at the dawn, the early transmission period of Theravāda Buddhism. There is a close and intimate relationship between Vietnamese Theravāda Buddhism and the southern Buddhist countries such as: Sri Lanka (Tích Lan), Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, etc.

The study and practice of Buddhism in these southern Buddhist countries is entirely similar, both in form and content.

Phật Bảo Pagoda is located at 673/3 Lạc Long Quân Street, Ward 10, Tân Bình District.

The total area of the pagoda is 4,600m2, donated to the late Most Venerable Giới Nghiêm by two families, the Huỳnh and Lâm families, who donated ancestral burial land. After Mr. Lâm Văn Linh and Mrs. Hà Trung Bửu completed the paperwork to donate the burial land, with address file number 129 and land certificate number 257, Most Venerable Giới Nghiêm received it and built Phật Bảo Pagoda.

The pagoda was built in 1965. The Phật Bảo Stupa was constructed in the pagoda courtyard in 1985, standing 11.55 metres tall; the upper level enshrines the Buddha's relics, the middle level houses relics of eminent monks of the sect, and the lower level contains the ashes of lay Buddhists. The stupa has now been relocated to the rear of the main hall.

From 1966 to 1975, the pagoda hosted the Intermediate Buddhist School, teaching the Pāli Canon for four courses, each with about 100 resident monks. The Buddha Hall is solemnly arranged. In the centre is the statue of the Original Teacher Śākyamuni Buddha. On either side are statues of the Buddha holding an alms bowl on his alms round and the Buddha entering parinirvāṇa. In 1968, the Thai Royal Buddhist community offered a complete bronze Buddha altar set, a set of bronze lamps, a Dhamma seat, and a set of the Tipiṭaka in Thai Pāli to Phật Bảo Pagoda for the Kathina Robe Offering Ceremony.

The first abbot was Most Venerable Giới Nghiêm. He was originally from Thừa Thiên – Huế, ordained at Bãng Lãng Pagoda, Huế in 1930. In 1944, he studied in Cambodia, learning the Dharma from Most Venerable Chuon Nath, the Supreme Patriarch of Kampuchea, and also studied abroad in Thailand and Burma. He was elected Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnamese Theravāda Sangha from 1964 to 1971 and again in 1979. From 1981 until his passing (1984), he was a member of the Council of Elders and Vice Chairman of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.

Afterwards, Bhikkhu Thích Chánh Niệm became abbot from 1987 and organised several renovations of the pagoda, such as building the triple-arched entrance gate in 2001 and constructing the Phật Bảo Stupa in 2003.

Currently, Venerable Quang Minh is the official abbot of the pagoda.

Major annual festivals:

15th day of the 4th lunar month: Vesak (Buddha's Birthday), veneration of the Buddha's relics, Buddha bathing ceremony.

13th day of the 7th lunar month: Solemn memorial ceremony for the late Most Venerable Giới Nghiêm.

18th day of the 9th lunar month: Kathina Robe Offering Ceremony.

The pagoda carries out many charitable activities, such as distributing gifts to poor people in remote areas during the Vu Lan filial piety season, and so on.