Thai Vi Temple

Rice fields spread out between limestone mountains in the Tam Cốc and Bích Động area of Ninh Binh. In the middle of them is a temple that few people know. It is tied to one of the most heroic periods in Vietnamese history.

This is Thái Vi Temple, in Văn Lâm hamlet, Ninh Hải commune, in Hoa Lư. According to the Ninh Binh tourism department, it honors the emperors of the Trần dynasty. Among them are Trần Thái Tông and Trần Thánh Tông. Trần Nhân Tông and Trần Anh Tông are worshiped here from afar. Different sources also list Empress Thuận Thiên. They add Trần Hưng Đạo and Trần Quang Khải as well.

The Trần dynasty ruled Vietnam from 1225 to 1400. It led the Vietnamese people through three resistance wars against the Mongols in the 13th century. That is one of the proudest chapters in the country's history.

The temple is tied to the Vũ Lâm area and to the resistance base of Trần times. According to the Ninh Binh foreign affairs portal, Trần Thái Tông won the victory of the first war against the Mongols, in 1258. After it, he gave up the throne and withdrew to the Trường Yên area to practice his faith. There he had a royal retreat palace built at Vũ Lâm, and he founded Thái Vi Hermitage. That small hermitage was the forerunner of today's temple. More than 700 years later, it still stands here, and local people still come to remember the emperors.

Entering the grounds, the first thing to see is the Jade Well, made of blue stone, in front of the gate. Past the ceremonial gate, on the right, stands the bell tower. It was built in the reign of Emperor Duy Tân. It has two floors, eight roofs and 32 columns of lim wood. The style is wholly traditional Vietnamese, and it suits the solemn air of the whole temple.

From the Dragon Courtyard, paved with blue stone, steps lead up to the Ngũ Đại môn. This area of five great doors has six round stone columns, set side by side and carved in relief. Beyond it come the worship hall, the middle hall and the main sanctuary. The main sanctuary is where the emperors and other figures of the Trần court are worshiped and remembered.

The main temple has 28 stone columns. Each is 3.2 meters high. There are 22 square stone columns, and a frame of lim wood beams, rafters and battens. This mix of materials is typical of Vietnamese worship architecture of the 17th and 18th centuries. Stone carries the weight and resists damp. Lim wood serves the roof and the structure high above.

Thái Vi Temple is the center of an annual festival. It takes place on the 14th and 15th days of the third lunar month. There is a procession of the incense bowl, offering rites, and folk games: lion dancing, dragon dancing, human chess, wrestling and boat racing.

UNESCO describes the Tràng An Landscape Complex as a place where sacred sites, villages, rice fields and limestone scenery together form a rare cultural and natural whole. The Tam Cốc and Bích Động area, where Thái Vi Temple stands, lies within it. The temple is not separate from that landscape. It is part of the long story of the Vietnamese people and the land of Ninh Binh.

That is why this land is more than a place of scenery. An emperor once gave up power here to choose stillness. The small hermitage he built became the temple where people still come to light incense, generation after generation.