Bai Dinh Pagoda, Ninh Binh

The most ideal weather at Bai Dinh and Trang An is from January to March in the lunar calendar, or from February to April in the solar calendar. The scenery here emerges beautifully and fascinating in the cool, warm spring weather. Especially, this is the time when traditional festivals take place, and you can combine sightseeing and praying for good luck at Bai Dinh Pagoda.

However, there are too many tourists who also visit Bai Dinh in spring, easily leading to so much noise, crowd, and joistling. If you don’t like that, you can visit Bai Dinh - Trang An in the autumn. The weather is very warm and comfortable.

The Bai Dinh - Trang An tourism complex is located to the south of Hanoi, about 96 km away. To travel from Hanoi to Bai Dinh, you can choose one of the following transportation options

Every day, there are many buses from Hanoi to Ninh Binh departing from Giap Bat Station and My Dinh Station. There is a departure every 20 minutes, which is convenient for tourist' schedules. The price for one trip ranges from 70,000 to 80,000 VND per person. Upon arriving at Ninh Binh Station, you can take a bus or taxi to Bai Dinh at a cost of about 130,000 VNDfor each trip.

Apart from these two above vehicles, you can choose a train to go to Ninh Binh train station. After that, you can take a bus or taxi to reach Bai Dinh. The train price is from 70,000 to 120,000 VND per seat depending on your selected seat class.

Moreover, you can hire a tour guide at a price of about 300,000 VND. 500,000 VND fee for tour guide on both of the former and latter Bai Dinh pagodas to understand deeply the spirit and features of Vietnamese culture. The price to get to Bai Dinh Pagoda Stupa is 50,000 VND.

Bai Dinh Temple is dubbed as a spiritual gem in Vietnam. Every year, it welcomes thousands of Buddhists from afar who come on pilgrimages and to enjoy the spring scenery.

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara Hall worships Guan Yin - Bodhisattva. The hall consists of seven compartments. The middle space is where the statue of Avalokitesvara with a thousands eyes and a thousands hands, showing compassion to all beings. With its magnificent architecture, the hall is decorated with various Buddhist motifs such as lotus flowers, bronze cranes. The most prominent feature is a bronze Buddha statue weighing up to 80 tons and standing 9.57 meters tall.

This entire Bai Dinh Pagoda complex was built before 2005, in the period of the Dinh, Tien Le and Ly dynasties.

The temple was built in a position "leaning against the mountain and facing the river," where a statue of the Zen master Nguyen Minh Khong is placed. Legend has it that, once he went to the mountains to find medicine to cure the king, he accidentally discovered a beautiful cave with a landscape of mountains, so he built a place to worship Buddha there. Not only a famous physician with high medical skills, but he is also revered as the ancestor of the bronze casting craft. Currently, he is worshiped in many places in Ninh Binh.

Bright Cave is a place to worship Gods and Buddha.The reason it is called Light Cave is that the cave is full of natural light. Outside the cave entrance, there are two statues of solemn gods with fierce faces, and deeper inside, there are Buddha statues for worship. Going to the end of the cave, you will come to the sacred Cao Son temple.

After that, when coming to the Dark Cave, you will admire a very fanciful scene. Above are stalactite formations formed along underground water lines. The stair of the pathway are vividly decorated with winding dragon shapes. In the middle of the cave is a natural well that contributes to air conditioning in the cave. Inside the cave, there are statues for worshiping Mother Goddess and various immortals. Some statues are placed deep in the rock niches and have their own altars.

The Ngoc Well has a moon-face shape with a diameter of nearly 30m and a depth of about 6m. The mouth of the well is constructed from Dinh Mountain stones. The total area of Ngoc Wel up to 6000m2, with four octagonal towers at each corner, standing out in the middle of the temple's scenery. The clear and cool water from the well is often used for ceremonial offerings at the temple.

The temple worships the god governing the Vu Lam mountain region. According to historical records, this was where Dinh Bo Linh lived when he was a child. The temple was built during the Dinh Dynasty (968 – 980).

In addition to the beauty, the superficiality and the unique architecture, Bai Dinh Pagoda also owns many records such as:

The stupa is located to the right of Tam The Palace, behind the statue of Buddha Maitreya, viewed from the main hall. The stupa has 13 floors and a hexagonal perimeter of 24m. It stands 99m tall, with the number 9 symbolizing endurance and eternity. The architecture of the entire stupa is designed in the Buddhist style of the Ly Dynasty and imbued with the spirit of Vietnam. Especially, on the 13th floor of the stupa, is the place to worship the relics of the Buddha, which was brought from India.

In addition to the special dishes here, you can choose some specialties as gifts when visiting Bai Dinh such as:

Gia Vien shrimp paste is a dish that embodies the distinctive character of this region. With its abundant freshwater aquatic resources, including shrimp, the delicious shrimp are soaked according to a family recipe to create a unique dish with a rich and bold flavor.

Yen Mac fermented pork roll is also one of the favorite dishes of many people. The roll is made from fresh pork, then fermented for 1-2 days to have a sour taste. Moreover, it has the spicy taste of chili sauce, making it very addictive. The ouside of the roll is wrapped in guava leaves to keep the delicious flavor and the color is very appealing to the eye.