---
node: spot_hue_thien_mu_pagoda
type: spot
slug: thien_mu_pagoda
destination: dest_hue
title: "Thiên Mụ Temple"
lead: "Thiên Mụ is the seven-storey brick tower above the Perfume River that has become the emblem of Hue, built in 1601 and rebuilt in its present form in 1844. The temple behind it is a working monastery."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_hue_thien_mu_pagoda.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2024_Hu%E1%BA%BF_-_Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c%27s_car_relic_at_Thi%C3%AAn_M%E1%BB%A5_Temple_-_img_06.jpg"
image_author: "Chainwit."
image_license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

## Overview

A local legend gave it the name — an old woman said a lord would come and build a pagoda here, and Nguyen Hoang did. Each of the tower's seven storeys is dedicated to a manifestation of the Buddha. Behind the tower, in a garage in the temple grounds, sits the Austin car that carried Thich Quang Duc to Saigon in 1963, where he burned himself in protest at the persecution of Buddhists; the photograph went around the world and the car is displayed with it.

## Highlights

Come by boat rather than road if you can; the approach from the river is how the site was meant to be seen. Early morning has monks at prayer and no coaches. The car is behind the main hall and easily missed, which would be a pity.