Bai Dinh Pagoda is a spiritual scenic spot located in the Bai Dinh – Trang An eco-tourism complex with a history of more than 1000 years associated with the land of many feudal dynasties from the Dinh and Tien Le dynasties. The Ly Dynasty. Let’s discover the experiences of going to Bai Dinh pagoda – the first spiritual scenic spot in Ninh Binh through the following article with Vntrip.vn.
Panoramic view of Bai Dinh pagoda (Photo: ST)
The most complete experience of going to Bai Dinh pagoda
Where is Bai Dinh Pagoda?
Bai Dinh Pagoda is a complex of pagodas located on Bai Dinh mountain in Gia Sinh commune, Gia Vien district, 5km northwest of Hoa Lu ancient capital, 12km from Ninh Binh city. Bai Dinh Pagoda has an area of 539 hectares, including 27 hectares of the old Bai Dinh pagoda area, 80 hectares of the new Bai Dinh pagoda area. This place is honored to welcome thousands of Buddhist pilgrims every year.
The entrance to the ancient pagoda (Photo: ST)
The most suitable time to travel to Bai Dinh Trang An
From January to March of the lunar calendar when the spring weather is warm is also the best time to go to Bai Dinh Trang An. You can combine spring travel with sightseeing, pagoda ceremony to pray for good luck and participate in major festivals in both Trang An and Bai Dinh. However, this is also the peak tourist season for festivals, so visitors come here are very crowded, causing overcrowding and crowding. Therefore, if you are a person who does not like to be crowded and noisy, you can also visit Bai Dinh pagoda at other times of the year.
Ticket price to Bai Dinh pagoda
The campus of Bai Dinh pagoda is very large. If you are limited in time, you can take the tram to the temple. Tram ticket at Bai Dinh pagoda area 30,000/way.
To explore Trang An scenic spot, it will take you more than 3 hours by boat. Usually, each boat can hold about 4-5 people. The ferry ticket price is 150,000 VND/person. In the high season, there are often many tourists flocking here to visit, so often overcrowding and jostling at points of purchase, ticketing and boat terminals occur. You need to be vigilant against theft and pickpocketing.
About Bai Dinh Pagoda
Overall, Bai Dinh architecture is considered as a standard feature for ancient pagoda architecture in Vietnam, especially the pagoda area invited to build has massive works. The roof of the main temple is extremely beautiful, consisting of 3 floors and 12 curved roofs in the shape of a knife head, roofed with tiles in the shape of a traditional comedy nose. The steps are decorated with stone dragons in the Ly Dynasty style, and the large stone yard looks directly down to the jade well.
The great hall consists of 3 floors and 13 massive roofs (Photo: ST)
Tam Quan pagoda looks out from the inside (Photo: ST)
Around the long corridor of the Arhat statue that surrounds the temple grounds, in the temple there are also small gardens planted with green trees, the most planted tree by the temple is the Bodhi tree extracted from the temples in India. The space of Bai Dinh pagoda is extremely pure and airy, an ideal place for Buddhist monks and nuns to come to worship and practice.
Air-conditioned space with many trees (Photo: ST)
Attractions around Bai Dinh Pagoda
Coming to Bai Dinh Pagoda , you can prioritize visiting some highlights with many mysterious legends.
Light cave, dark cave
Passing 300 stone steps up to the three-way gate, before turning into the gate, look to the side of the slope, there is a fork that leads to the light and dark caves. Bright cave is a place to worship God and Buddha, as the name suggests, there is enough natural light, right outside the door is a statue of two majestic gods with fierce faces, deep inside is a place to worship Buddha. The cave is about 25 m deep, 15 m wide, more than 2 m high, going all the way to the end of the cave you will come to the temple of the sacred Cao Son god.
Buddha altar inside the cave (photo collection)
The dark side of the cave is arranged with a lighting system to create a quite fanciful scene, above the stalactites formed by underground water. The steps of the path are vividly decorated with winding dragons. In the middle, there is a natural well that regulates the air, making visitors feel cool when entering the cave. Here, there are statues of mothers and fairies, many worshiping statues are placed deep in the rock nooks and have their own worshiping objects.
Temple of Saint Nguyen
Also from the fork at the top of the slope (towards the three-way gate), going in is to worship Saint Nguyen. The temple is an architectural item of the Bai Dinh pagoda complex built in the position of a mountain looking at the river. In the temple, there is a statue of Zen master Nguyen Minh Khong. Once he went to the mountain to find a cure for the king, he accidentally discovered a beautiful cave, so he built a temple to worship Buddha. He is not only a famous celebrity who dispenses medicine to help people, but he is also respected as the ancestor of bronze casting. For a long time, he worked hard to research and understand the origin of Dong Son civilization in ancient Vietnam, and collected antique bronzes for the purpose of restoring the lost traditional bronze casting profession.
Saint Nguyen Temple is the place to worship Zen master Nguyen Minh Khong (photo collection)
To commemorate and record the merits of Zen master – famous physician Nguyen Minh Khong, people have carved a statue to worship on Bai Dinh pagoda. In addition, he is also worshiped in many places throughout Ninh Binh province.
The overall architecture of the temple follows the most pre-posterous style. The front part is designed in the style of Nhat, while the back part is designed in the style of Cong, “Tien Nhat Hau Cong” firmly creating traditional harmonious architecture. Inside, there are many vividly carved ancient architectural pieces, fresh flowers, strong dragons and unicorns.
Well of Jade
Here, it is said that Zen master Nguyen Minh Khong took a decoction of medicine to treat the king and the people. Around the stone railing forming a large circle, standing from the top of the main hall looking down at the Ngoc well stands out among the large green covered campus, the jade green water color is the highlight in the overall Bai Dinh pagoda . This is also the pagoda well with the largest record in Vietnam.
Well water is as green as jade (Photo: ST)
Visit the largest bronze bell in Vietnam
The new Bai Dinh Pagoda is also famous for many large-scale construction items in Southeast Asia. The largest bronze bell in Vietnam has a height of 5.5 m, a diameter of 3.5 m and a weight of 36 tons. The bronze bell is carved with many different pieces of ancient Chinese characters and decorated with lively floating dragons.
The largest bronze bell in Vietnam (Photo: ST)
Asia’s largest Shakyamuni statue is solemnly placed in the Dharma Master of Bai Dinh Pagoda weighing up to 100 tons and 9.5 m high. Standing in front of the statue, you will feel overwhelmed by the magnificent majesty of the statue.
The longest Arhat corridor in Vietnam (Photo: ST)
The records of Bai Dinh Pagoda
With unique architecture and long history, Bai Dinh Pagoda has become a famous ecological and spiritual tourist destination in the North in general and Ninh Binh in particular. There have been 8 Vietnamese and Asian records recorded at Bai Dinh Pagoda such as the largest bronze bell in Vietnam, the tallest and heaviest statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in Asia, the largest set of three golden bronze statues in Vietnam, The largest bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha in Southeast Asia, the temple with the largest Arhat corridor in Vietnam, the pagoda with the most Bodhi trees in Vietnam…
Some things to note when going to Bai Dinh Trang An pagoda
- You should bring comfortable sports shoes instead of high heels or doll shoes to protect your feet as well as facilitate movement because you will have to climb mountains and climb temples quite a lot. Should choose polite clothes when entering the temple, comfortable clothes should not wear tight, sweat-proof clothes.
- At Bai Dinh Pagoda, there are many stalls selling attractive souvenirs and specialties. However, the price on the mountain is much higher than outside. Therefore, if you buy specialties as gifts, you should go down to the foot of the mountain to find a cheaper price.
- In early spring, there is often a light drizzle, so you should bring a small folding umbrella as a backup
- Remember to bring change when going to temples and donating. Avoid spending money on Buddha statues that spoil the beauty of the temple, but instead you should put it right in the merit boxes here.
Source: Collected internet.