Sét Pagoda

Sét Pagoda (formal name: "Đại Bi tự" or "Cổ Am tự") is located at No. 515 Trương Định Street, Hoàng Mai Ward, Hà Nội (formerly part of Giáp Lục of the old Sét Village (Kẻ Sét) or Thịnh Liệt), situated in an unnamed alley off Trương Định Street. The pagoda originally comprised two temples: "Cổ Am tự" and "Đại Bi tự", but today only "Cổ Am tự" remains preserved. The pagoda is one of the temples that worship the Four Dharma Goddesses (Tứ pháp).

The pagoda was built during the Later Lê dynasty. In 1630, Lady Đặng Thị Ngọc Dao, the principal consort of Prince Trịnh Tùng, had the pagoda reconstructed. The pagoda currently houses a statue of Lady Ngọc Dao seated on a lotus pedestal (a wooden statue covered in lacquer, 1 metre high) and her tomb.

The Buddha hall and monks' quarters were erected in 1630, and the bell tower was built in 1631. During the Gia Long era (1809) and Bảo Đại era (1927), the pagoda underwent major renovations. Later, several distinguished women from Kẻ Mơ contributed funds for the restoration of the pagoda, such as imperial consorts Lê Ngọc Trân, Lê Thị Ngọc Côn, Lê Thị Minh, and others.

In December 1972, American bombing destroyed the entire old Đại Bi Pagoda; today, only Cổ Am Pagoda remains preserved.

In 2016, the former Hoàng Mai district approved the project "Site clearance and restoration, preservation of Sét Pagoda relics, Area I".

The pagoda was recognised by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a National Historical and Cultural Relic in 1999.

The current abbot is Bhikkhuni Thích Đàm Cần.

The pagoda worships the Buddha and the Four Dharma Goddesses (Tứ Pháp). The statue of Lady Pháp Vân is placed in a worship cabinet in the rear sanctuary. In front of the statue of Lady Pháp Vân is the statue of Bodhisattva Quan Âm.

In the Buddha hall, there is a set of statues of the Three Buddhas of the Three Times (Tam Thế Phật), a statue of Amitābha Buddha (Phật A Di Đà), a 2-metre-high statue of Shakyamuni Buddha (Phật Thích Ca) cast in bronze in 1934, a statue of the Infant Shakyamuni (Thích Ca Sơ sinh), and others.

The pagoda also preserves many antiquities such as stone steles, imperial edicts from Nguyễn dynasty emperors, a great bronze bell (đại hồng chung), and especially a stele erected in the 11th year of the Chính Hòa era (1690), 1.6 metres high, square with four sides, inscribed on all four faces, with the inscription composed by Doctor Đỗ Công Toản, then Supervisor of the Sơn Nam Circuit. The stele records the merits of imperial consort Lê Thị Ngọc Côn, who donated 3 mẫu (approx. 10,800 m²) of rice fields to the pagoda and gave the people of Thịnh Liệt commune 200 ancient coins to cover the costs of dyke construction.