Thich Ca Phat Dai

Where four Buddhist holy lands are enshrined in a stupa on the slope of Big Mountain

Thich Ca Phat Dai is a Buddhist complex built on Big Mountain (Nui Lon) in Vung Tau from 1961 with contributions from Buddhist followers, and later recognised as a National Historical and Cultural Relic. Standing out within the roughly 5-hectare grounds are the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha seated in meditation on a 6.2 m high Buddha platform and the 17 m high stupa that houses relics of the Buddha. A special detail of the stupa is that its four spires were moulded with earth brought back from the four holy lands connected with the life of the Buddha in India: Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Lumbini and Kushinagar. The complex lies among ancient trees on the slope of Big Mountain, and the courtyard in front of the statue opens onto a wide view down to the sea and the city of Vung Tau. Visitors can explore the worship areas, learn the stories behind the Buddhist symbols and spend time taking in the scenery from the mountainside. This place creates an atmosphere quite apart from the holiday rhythm of the seaside city, one where Buddhist history, architecture and the mountain-and-sea landscape all come together in a single complex.

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.