Shellfish Pagoda is “famous for using solid ocean matter in its construction,” writes International Traveller. “Much of the materials used over the years was collected by the pagoda’s monks, found along local beaches,” and in recent years the landmark “has grown to include more towers, caves, tunnels and bridges, all decorated with findings from the beach.”
Its most famous attraction is the Bao Tich Tower, “a manually built structure over five years” using corals and “decorated with shells and clams,” explains Thanh Nien News. The 39-metre high tower has two floors and eight doors known as Bat chanh dao (the Noble Eightfold Path),“one of the principal teachings of the Buddha that prescribes the way to end suffering.” Another attraction at the pagoda is “the tunnel that leads to hell” -- a 500-metre long tunnel that “depicts the torment and torture that sinners undergo in Naraka (a Sanskrit term for Hell).”