Visit Bai Dinh Pagoda

In the year of Canh Dan 2010, our nation solemnly celebrated the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long. "When drinking water, remember its source" is a long-standing moral tradition of the Vietnamese people. During January 2010, a large number of people from Lang Son to Ca Mau, along with overseas Vietnamese returning to their homeland during the Lunar New Year, eagerly visited the ancient capital of Hoa Lu and Bai Dinh Pagoda, the largest pagoda in Vietnam today.

Bai Dinh Pagoda was newly built at the beginning of the 21st millennium. A major spiritual center of Vietnamese Buddhism. Up to now, many items of the project have not been completed, the roads in the pagoda grounds are rocky and bumpy. However, this does not prevent the admiration of visitors from near and far to offer incense at Bai Dinh Pagoda. According to statistics from the Department of Culture - Sports & Tourism of Ninh Binh province, on average, tens of thousands of people visit Bai Dinh Pagoda every day.

The mountain stands alone, on a high and flat hill, the northwest of the mountain has many low hills so the land and hills make Bai Dinh mountain higher and more beautiful than the mountains in the region. Bai Dinh mountain is 187m high, the area on the top is 150,000m2, the shape is arc, the two sides are curved to form the shape of a throne, at the foot of the mountain is a valley, according to legend, in the past, the land at the foot of the hill was the Sinh Duoc garden of Duc Thanh Nguyen.

Looking from different directions, we see the mountain has different shapes. If you look up from Hoang Long River, you will see the mountain has 9 peaks curving in the shape of a Dragon Horse leaning towards the north, its mane rolled up, its two hind legs kicking down to the south to create the upper hand.

What does Bai Dinh Son mean? According to the Sino-Vietnamese dictionary, "Bai" means "ritual, to bow"; it also means "to give, to confer, like to confer title to a marquis and a general". "Dinh" means peak, mountain peak. Thus, Bai Dinh Son means a mountain with a ceremony on the top, where conferring title to a marquis and a general has taken place for a long time, so it is named Bai Dinh.

Thus, since ancient times, Bai Dinh Mountain has been a place for large worship ceremonies held on the mountain top. According to legend, after King Dinh Tien Hoang defeated the 12 warlords, he ordered an altar to be set up on Bai Dinh Mountain to hold a ceremony to confer titles on all civil and military mandarins.

This is also very consistent with the legend that when he established the capital here, he ordered the construction of a palace in the mountainous area of ​​Son Lai (bordering Gia Sinh commune, about 5 km from Bai Dinh mountain) to build a new capital.

Here, the Dinh-Tien Le dynasties and all five dynasties of the Ly dynasty used it as a place to worship heaven and earth. Later kings such as Le Loi and Quang Trung, when marching to the North, used Bai Dinh mountain as a place to worship heaven and earth, to worship gods (high mountain) before driving out foreign invaders and all achieved glorious victories.

It is interesting to see that, a series of rugged mountains and forests from Cuc Phuong, Bai Dinh to Tam Diep, Tran Phu "built by heaven and earth, very dangerous" (quoted from the book Hoang Le Nhat Thong Chi). Only then can we know how important the ancient capital Hoa Lu is strategically in the process of building and defending the country of our ancestors!

The nature and landscape in Bai Dinh have wonderful mountains and rivers, charming scenery, and prosperous human life.

Hoang Long River is the confluence of three rivers: Lang River, Boi River and Lo River. Lang River originates from Hoa Binh, flows through Nho Quan town, flows to meet Boi River (ancient Kien Phong River), also from Hoa Binh flows to Kenh Ga junction (Gia Thinh commune, Gia Vien). Hoang Long River flows to Le mountain (Le village, Gia Sinh commune, Gia Vien) and joins Le river from Phu Loc, Son Thanh (Nho Quan). Hoang Long River curves to the Northwest, to Hoang Long village, Duc Hau, An Thai (old Gia Ninh commune, now Gia Trung commune), flows to the foot of Bo Dinh mountain (Gia Vuong commune), Ky Lam (ancient Dai Huu, now Gia Phuong commune), then curves back to the Southeast through Dien Giang Duong (Gia Thang commune), Dien Xa (Gia Tien commune, Gia Vien district), forming a water arc embracing Gia Trung, Gia Vuong, Gia Phuong, Gia Thang, Gia Tien communes. This bend, according to ancient books, is called Dai Hoang River...

According to recently published archaeological documents, the Bai Linh area was once home to ancient Vietnamese people.

There are still many stories about the Hoa Lu - Bai Dinh mountain area. Folklore researcher Truong Dinh Tuong, Ninh Binh Literature and Arts Association, wrote a book of nearly two hundred pages titled: "Bai Dinh - a thousand years of spirituality and legend", published by The Gioi Publishing House, 2009.

Let me add that, when visiting Bai Dinh Pagoda, in addition to admiring the amazing landscape, you can also see 500 Arhats carved by Vietnamese sculptors from white stone of Ninh Binh. Along with the Arhats, there are large, monolithic bronze statues, tens of meters high, such as the statue of Saint Nguyen Minh Khong (1066-1141), the Ly Dynasty's National Master, the founder of "Bai Dinh ancient temple" on the top of Bai Dinh mountain. The monolithic bronze statue is gilded, placed in the "Ly Dynasty National Master" temple located on the top of Bai Dinh mountain. In addition, there are Buddha Shakyamuni, the Three Holy Mothers, Cao Son God, etc., all of which are cast from monolithic bronze and gilded. Each of the statues in Bai Dinh is a work of art, demonstrating the talent of contemporary Vietnamese sculptors.

Coming to Hoa Lu Capital, coming to Bai Dinh Pagoda is coming to the land of the nation's origin, coming to faith and admiration. Our ancestors from long ago had a song:

Who are the descendants of the Dragon and Fairy?

March opens Truong Yen festival then come back...

Spring Tuynh