Overview
The name means defending the country, given when it served the Ly and Tran courts as the state temple. The present stupa was built in 1998 and each of its eleven storeys holds a statue of Amitabha in gemstone, which is recent work in an ancient setting — the pagoda has been rebuilt often enough that its age lives in the site rather than the fabric. A bodhi tree in the courtyard was grown from a cutting of the tree at Bodh Gaya, given by India in 1959.
Highlights
Go at the end of the afternoon, when the light is behind the stupa from the causeway. It is an active temple: shoulders and knees covered, and shoes off inside the halls. The West Lake road makes a good cycle or a slow walk of an hour to Quan Thanh Temple.