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Hanoi, Hanoi · 21.0358°, 105.8336°
Built in 1049 by Emperor Ly Thai Tong and refined in 1105 under Ly Nhan Tong, this small hexagonal shrine to Avalokiteshvara stands on a single stone pillar 1.25 metres across and 4 metres high, shaped so that the whole rises like a lotus, the Buddhist emblem of purity. Destroyed in 1954, it was rebuilt the following year by North Vietnam's Ministry of Culture; a replica was raised near Saigon in the late 1950s.
The emperor is said to have dreamed of Avalokiteshvara seated on a lotus handing him a son; a son was born after he married a peasant girl, and he built the lotus-shaped shrine in thanks.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Ly