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Famous as one of the most sacred temple in north Vietnam, Thac Bo temple is
located 20km from the provincial city of
Hoa Binh, Thac Bo Temple and Thac Bo
Cave have become favourite spiritual tourism destinations of pilgrims across the
country, due to their amazing natural scenery.
Thac Bo Temple was built in 1431 in Hoa Trang Commune in commemoration of the
contributions of Dinh Thi Van, a H’mong ethnic minority woman and her Dao ethnic
minority friend who had encouraged locals to raise food and help Le Loi’s troops
in the fight against foreign invaders.
After their death, locals called them Thac Bo Queens and built a temple in Thac
Bo Lake’s heart in acknowledgement of their contributions. In 1979, the temple
was moved to a higher place in
Cao Phong District’s Thung Nai Commune and
Da Bac
District’s Vay Nua Commune to give space for the construction of Hoa Binh
hydroelectric dam. Annually, the locality holds a three-month long festival
starting on the seventh day of the first lunar month in commemoration of the
contributions of the two women.
Although the temple is not big like others, it lures visitors’ attention with a
collection of 38 statues of different sizes and spectacular and poetic landscape
around it. In the lunar New Year festival, every day the place attracts
thousands of pilgrims to pay tribute to the two women and pray for a happy and
prosperous year. |
