ABSTRACT
On an early spring Sunday in the first month of the lunar new year (Tet) I went on a daytrip to a famous pagoda called Chua Thay with a group of young Vietnamese men and women from Hanoi. The pagoda was a popular destination for pilgrims at the beginning of Tet for a number of reasons. It was relatively close to Hanoi and could be reached by motorcycle in about an hour, making it appropriate for a day trip. The location of the pagoda, on a lake at the foot of a limestone mountain riddled with caves, added to its appeal as a destination for a picnic and a short walk. Its fame was also due to its history, the pagoda having been the residence of a renowned monk of the Ly dynasty. It was said also to be the location where water puppetry was invented, an art-form claimed to be uniquely Vietnamese. Chua Thay is considered to be an important example of traditional Vietnamese architecture, attested to by its inevitable inclusion in a number of coffee-table-style books about Vietnamese pagodas (for example, Ha Van Tan et al. 1993; Vo Van Tuong 1993, 1994; Vo Van Tuong and Huynh Nhu Phuong 1995).
