Ba Den Mountain

986 meters above sea level. That is the height of the summit of Bà Đen Mountain. Official tourism materials call it the highest peak in southern Vietnam. It rises from the flat plain of Tây Ninh like a landmark set there by nature.

But there is more to Bà Đen Mountain than its height. At least three things meet here and live side by side: folk belief, wartime history and the natural landscape. And today a modern cable car system joins them, carrying visitors to the summit in eight minutes.

The Bà Đen complex has three peaks. The first is Bà Mountain. The other two are Phụng Mountain and Heo Mountain. Together they spread over about 24 square kilometers. Since 1989, the area has been recognized as a national historic site and scenic landmark.

The cultural and spiritual heart of the mountain is the pagoda area known as Chùa Bà, the Lady's Pagoda. The pagoda's formal name is Linh Sơn Tiên Thạch Tự. The pagoda dates from the 18th century. It stands at an altitude of about 350 meters. People also call it the Buddha Pagoda or the Upper Pagoda. Beside it stands the hall of Bà Linh Sơn Thánh Mẫu, the Holy Mother of Linh Sơn. The hall was adapted from a natural overhang of rock. Its vaulted roof is 2.5 meters high, and its entrance is 6 meters wide.

Bà Đen, the Black Lady, is the central figure of the folk faith tied to this mountain. She is also known as Linh Sơn Thánh Mẫu. Her story is a folk legend, told in more than one version. In the most popular one, she was a woman named Lý Thị Thiên Hương. She defended her chastity and was transformed into the spirit of the mountain. Some other sources speak instead of a woman called Đênh, or Rê Đeng. Whichever version is told, the people of Tây Ninh still believe the Lady is here, on the rock faces and in every wisp of incense smoke.

The festival of Bà Linh Sơn Thánh Mẫu is held from the fourth to the sixth day of the fifth lunar month. In 2018, the state recognized it as part of the national intangible cultural heritage. In the festival season, tens of thousands of pilgrims pour in, and the mountain seems to flow with an unbroken stream of people.

The mountainside holds another layer of memory: its wartime history. From 1961, three caves served as the base of the district Party committee of Tòa Thánh. Two of them were Kim Quang Cave and Cây Da Cave. The third was Đất Cave. On January 6, 1975, forces on the committee's side took full control of Bà Đen Mountain. Today they are places to visit, but for many years, people lived, worked and fought inside them.

Today, three cable car lines run up the mountain. The Chùa Hang line carries visitors from the foot of the mountain up to the Lady's Pagoda. It is 1,246.83 meters long and has 78 cabins. The Tâm An line links the pagoda area with the summit. It is 1,208 meters long. From one end to the other, it climbs 639.7 meters. It is one of the steepest cable car lines in Vietnam. The third line, Vân Sơn, starts at Bà Đen Station at the foot of the mountain. It runs straight to Vân Sơn Station on the summit in about eight minutes. That ride replaces a climb of two to four hours on foot. The cable cars let older people, pilgrims and families with small children reach places that once only the strong and healthy could get to.

On the summit stands the Tây Bổ Đà Sơn statue of the Lady Buddha. It is 72 meters tall, cast from more than 170 tons of red copper. It holds the record as the tallest copper statue of the Lady Buddha on a mountaintop in Asia. Next to the statue is the very tip of the peak, marked at a height of 986 meters. In good weather, the whole Tây Ninh plain can be seen from here, spread out below like a carpet. In the cloud season of May, clouds wrap around the slopes, and the summit is 8 to 10 degrees Celsius cooler than the plain. Then the scene can look very different from the dry days of harsh sun.

Bà Đen Mountain is hard to sum up in one sentence. It is a sacred mountain for pilgrims, a witness to the war years and a place of natural scenery. And high against the blue sky stands a record-setting copper statue, 72 meters tall.

On a morning in the cloud season, as the cable car nears the summit, the Tây Ninh plain below can vanish behind a white veil. Only the Lady Buddha rises out of the clouds, like an image that does not belong to this world. Incense smoke from the pagoda drifts into a wind 8 to 10 degrees colder than the plain. Pilgrims and travelers from far away stand side by side, looking in the same direction, and no one says a word.