Ngu Dong Thi Son

Bamboo grows along the way into the temple. In front of it flows the Đáy River, and behind it rises the rock wall of Cấm Mountain. That is how the temple got its name, Đền Trúc, the Bamboo Temple. Much of the old grove has thinned out, but the name has stayed, and so has the cool green air.

Before 2025, this land was Thi Sơn Ward in the old Hà Nam province. In the reorganization of local government that year, Thi Sơn Ward and two other communes were merged into Lý Thường Kiệt Ward, in Ninh Binh province. The new name of the ward points straight to the temple. This land is tied to Lý Thường Kiệt, the national hero whom the temple at the foot of Cấm Mountain honors.

The temple was recognized as a national historical and cultural monument in 1994. Its plan follows the character Đinh. Đinh is a Chinese character shaped like the letter T. The temple has a three-door gate, a courtyard, a front hall and a rear sanctuary. What sets it apart from other temples of the plain is the one it honors, and the story tied to this land.

Lý Thường Kiệt was a general of the Lý dynasty, which ruled Vietnam from 1009 to 1225. History remembers him for the poem Nam quốc sơn hà, Rivers and Mountains of the Southern Land. It also remembers him for the resistance against the Song, the dynasty then ruling China, in the 11th century. His temple stands beside the Đáy River, in an area that has been tied to the Quyển Sơn community for many generations.

That community has a singing tradition of its own, Hát Dậm Quyển Sơn. It is a folk art of song, dance and music made for the festival of Quyển Sơn village. A chorus of six to ten voices sings it. The singers use sênh tiền, a percussion set that keeps the beat and doubles as a prop in the dance. The words turn to the spirits and give thanks to Lý Thường Kiệt. The origin of the art is tied directly to the festival of the Bamboo Temple. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has placed Hát Dậm Quyển Sơn on the national list of intangible cultural heritage.

A few minutes on from the temple lies Ngũ Động Thi Sơn, inside Cấm Mountain. Ngũ Động means five caves. Here five limestone caves join one to the next and run deep into the mountain.

Inside, the stalactites take shapes that remind people of familiar things. Visitors pick out a turtle, an elephant, a mother's breast, a pot of rice with its lid off, a drum lying down and a drum hanging up. These are names given by resemblance. They are not scientific or official names, and each person tends to see a different shape. Where one person sees a mother's breast, another sees a gourd for carrying water. Each visitor leaves with a cave of their own.

From the mouth of the caves, a path also climbs to the summit of Cấm Mountain. From the top, the Đáy River lies far below like a green silk ribbon winding across the plain.

In a single afternoon, three things stand side by side here: the echo of a general from long ago, the Hát Dậm still sounding at village festivals, and the cool darkness inside a limestone mountain. On the summit there is sky above, and below, the Đáy River shines in the afternoon sun.