Phuoc Lam Pagoda is located at Xom Chua hamlet, Tan Lan commune, Can Duoc suburbant district, Long An province. In 1880, a herb doctor and landowner in Tan Lan village, Mr. Bui Van Minh, built this pagoda to be a place of worship for Buddha as well as an ancestral hall for his Bui clan. Due to his merit to the village, Mr. Minh was venerated as a sage in Tan Lan Temple. Phuoc Lam Pagoda also has other name as Mr. Mieng Pagoda (taboo name of Mr. Minh).

        In general, the pagoda has 3 parts: central chamber- Patriarchs’ hall, grave tower and nha tru. The central chamber is a large house built in “three-cornered patty” style, stone foundation, brick wall and fish-scale roof type. All pillars were made of precious wood chocked up by stone, associated to each other by a system of frames and girders to create a commodious space. Interior design of the central chamber still keeps its ancient traits after several restorations with more than 40 statues of Buddha, Bodhisattva, the Jade Emperor, Ten great halls of underworld Pluto, the Good, the Evil, Colossi, Vajra and various sets of balcony, horizontal and vertical lacquered boards with vermillion and gilt. Most of those statues were made of wood and bronze in the 19th century with Southern Vietnam Buddism art style.

       There is a special statue of bodhisattva in monk’s robe, holding feather brush and sitting on wooden dragon-horse. The balcony and lacquered panels were made meticulously by a craftman of Dinh clan from Tan Lan, Can Duoc.

       Especially, the horizontal lacquered panel of “Phap luan thuong chuyen” carved multi-layers in a shape of a scrolling book with Chrysanthemum – Pheasant theme. Letter “Tho” (Longevity) was embossed in half at 2 ends of the scrolling book and 4 letters “Phap luan thuong chuyen” were red-lacquered on golden background to make the panel even more sophisticated and vivid. This is one of the most beautiful lacquered panel in Long An, which is an evidence of high level of wood engraving craftmanship in Can Duoc in 19th and early 20th century.

        Similar to other village pagoda in South Vietnam, behind the central chamber of Phuoc Lam Pagoda is the Patriarchs’ hall (following the style “Front Buddha, Back Patriarchs”). The Patriarchs’ hall has altar and pictures of the departed abbots (heads of the monastery), altar and picture of Bui Cong – founder of the pagoda, and altar of Bui clan. In the east of central chamber is 4 antique grave towers. Phuoc Lam Pagoda is patriarchs’ temple of Luc Hoa faction in Can Duoc. In fullmoon days, there are many buddists visit Phuoc Lam Pagoda to worship and pray in miraculous love of Buddha. Tran Hong Lien researcher wrote: “Phuoc Lam Pagoda represents a typical ancient pagoda in South Vietnam, yet this old pagoda is now damaged through time.” In 2001, Phuoc Lam Pagoda was ranked by the Ministry of Culture and Information as National Vestige. With our love for a cultural heritage, government authorities and buddists will hold on together to restore and embellish this pagoda to be a pride of the local people. 

        (1) Group of craftsmen from Dinh clan in Can Duoc did wood carving work for 5 generations until now. The ancestor of this clan is craftsman Dinh Van Tri (born in 1841 approximately) who imparted this craft to the following craftsmen: Dinh Cong Tung, Dinh Cong Cai (2^nd generation); Dinh Van Tat, Dinh Cong Ton (3^rd generation); Dinh Van Nam (4^th generation). This group of craftsmen from Dinh clan has created many famous carving works in Giac Lam Pagoda (Hochiminh City), Nghia Nhuan Club-house, Nha Giau hamlet (Thanh Phu Long commune – Chau Thanh), house of Mr. Cai Bang (Tan An – Can Duoc), house of Mrs. Phu Phai (Cho Quan - Hochiminh City).