Bai Dinh - Trang An

BAI DINH

My glance at Bai Dinh

I would recommend to go to Bai Dinh in the morning where it is not so hot then go to Trang An in the afternoon when it gets hotter.

I have heard about Bai Dinh but I just went there as the first time because of my business trip. I was amazed by the temple and I believe everyone should go to see it.

Location

Gia Sinh, Gia Vien, Ninh Binh

How to get there

You can go there by car, motorbike. It is 90km  South far from Hanoi.

Ticket

Entrance ticket for a car: 40.000 VND.

Roundtrip ticket to go by electric cab: 60.000 VND. Around 14 people can go in one cab. You just need to buy the ticket then go through the check-ticket entrance, you can see all the cabs are ready to wait for passengers then leave to the gate of Bai Dinh complex.

Opening hours

6h-21h every day.

Stories behind the name

A secret millionair invested in building the temple.

Mr. Nguyen Van Truong is considered a hidden Billionaire, Buddhist devotee , having a simple vegetarian life for many years ..

Born in 1963 at Chi Phong village , Truong Yen Commune , Hoa Lu , Ninh Binh . He is a well-known businessman in the business group. He was awarded "Entrepreneur typical Vietnam " and " Gold Cup international economic integration " .

He is also known as the $ 100,000 expenditure , to personally welcome XA   LOI from India to these relics in Vietnam . At Noi Bai , he arranged car hire 3 Limousine , Hummer , Lincoln to welcome the relics and XA LOI to Ninh Binh.

History

Built in 2006

Features

Size: 539ha

Recommended route: Tam Quan, Tháp Chuông, điện Quan Âm, Pháp Chủ, Tam Thể.

You may walk on Arhats alley, you will see 100 hundred different statues along the way.

The length is 1.052m. You can see different face experessions on the Arhats  because they sit in meditation in different ways. Some look happy, some look sad, all depend on how they meditated.

A famous poem was written by Huy Can to describe the Arhats here.

“The Arhat of Tay Phuong Pagoda

I visited then the heart felt sorry.

Is this the land of Buddha

But why everyone's face is painful?”

The most noticable statue is “Thich Quang Duc”. He burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963 to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government led by Ngô Đình Diệm. Even though he died but his heart was not burnt. The heart was burned in 4000 C but it was still not be able to be burnt. People then called it the undyingheart.

You should not touch any statue because it may offend the Arhat.

You can see 9 stairs continous built on the hall, the reason is related to being born and death belief of Buddish.  

If you go to see the temple on the right that is 5mintues walking from Tam Quan gate, you can see Dong Son drum.

Đông Sơn drums (also called Heger Type I drums) are bronze drums fabricated by the Đông Sơn culture in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. The drums were produced from about 600 BCE or earlier until the third century CE and are one of the culture's finest examples of metalworking.

You should not throw money on the top of the drum. Instead of that, donate the money by putting on a box nearby the drum.

If you spool the drum, the sound can be echoed around 10km.

What can we do nearby

Visit Trang An or Tam Coc

Where to eat

You can eat in Tuan Hao restaurant which is 5km far from Bai Dinh and 5km far from Trang An.

You should only order around 60 or 70km per person otherwise you wont finish all the food. They provide unlimited rice and soup.

50.000 VND meal:

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