Bich Dong Pagoda is an ancient pagoda with a quiet and mysterious beauty. Mountains, caves and pagodas blend together to create a unique landscape. During your trip to Ninh Binh, if you miss Bich Dong Pagoda, it will be a big pity.

Many tourists still wonder why the pagoda is called Bich Dong? The word Dong means cave, and Bich here means green. But what is green? Or is the whole cave green? Bich Dong Pagoda Ninh Binh is a complex of pagodas with an exterior that leans toward the mountain facing the river. Another part is located deep in the cave. Green here can be the word to describe the vast green color of the mountains and forests. And also the green of the green stone around the pagoda. Right at the stairs leading to Trung Son, you will see a giant blue stone slab. In the cave are stalactites hundreds of millions of years old. There are places where water still flows today and stalactites will continue to develop over time.

People are often curious about the beauty of the pagoda located on a limestone mountain, partly because they are curious about the beauty of the pagoda located on a rocky mountain, partly because they are motivated by the ravishing check-in photos of international tourists.

Although located in the mountains, Bich Dong Pagoda Ninh Binh is still a place that attracts a large number of tourists from near and far to regularly visit. This place maintains peace, peace and a bit of solitude amidst the mountain and forest scenery, creating even more attraction for long-distance travelers to the land of Ninh Binh.

History of Bich Dong Pagoda

In 1705, during the reign of King Le Du Tong, there were two Buddhist monks named Tri Kien and Tri The. A person from Vong Doanh and a person from Dong Xuyen, Nghia Hung district, Nam Dinh province met and became brothers. Both monks were devout and traveled together to many places to spread Buddhism and build temples.

When they arrived at Bich Dong mountain, they saw that this was a place with a beautiful terrain and could build a pagoda. The two monks decided to stop, collect money and rebuild the pagoda into 3 new pagodas: Ha pagoda, Trung pagoda and Pagoda Pagoda. Thuong.

In the year of the Pig (1707), two monks Tri Kien and Tri The cast a large bell, which is still hanging in Dark Cave. Two years later, in August, two monks again made a stele of Bich Dong pagoda in Chinese characters. In the year of Giap Ngo (1774), Lord Trinh Sam came here to visit the scenery. Perhaps impressed by the panoramic view of mountains, caves, rivers, fields, and lush green trees, Lord Trinh Sam named this pagoda Bich Dong Pagoda.

Interesting experience at Bich Dong Pagoda

Bich Dong Pagoda bears the bold architecture of ancient Vietnamese pagodas. Overall, there are 3 pagodas and 3 caves with 2 dry caves and 1 water cave. In which dry caves include Bich Dong, Dark Cave halfway up the mountain, water cave is Xuyen Thuy Cave underground.

Road to the temple

The most special feature of the pagoda is the structure of the Chinese character Tam. Unlike Cong Pagoda, the incense burning space connecting the three buildings of the pagoda is completely separate. Accordingly, the structure consists of 3 separate parts: Lower Pagoda, Middle Pagoda, Upper Pagoda, arranged along the mountainside from high mountain position to low mountain position.

When visiting the pagoda, visitors will pass through a stone bridge leading to Tam Quan gate. This gate area bears the mark of ancient architecture with a 3-storey gate and a sophisticatedly designed curved tile roof. The Tam Quan gate area is also the place where most tourists check in. The painting of the countryside with a lotus pond and surrounding rocky mountains creates a poetic scene.

Ha Pagoda
Going through the Tam Quan gate area, you will encounter a road at the foot of the mountain about 55m long with very clean tiles. Following this road you will come to the Ha pagoda area inside the Bich Dong pagoda complex in Ninh Binh. Ha pagoda Built in the Northwest direction, located at the foot of Bich Dong mountain

Like other pagodas, the architecture of Ha Pagoda is in the Dinh style. The horizontal part is the front hall with 5 compartments, the vertical part is the upper hall, 2 compartments have ironwood columns and tall stone columns. The trusses, horizontal beams, and vertical beams are all made of ironwood. The pagoda’s roof is two curved roofs, consisting of 8 roofs. Because the pagoda’s foundation is nearly 1 meter higher than the pagoda yard, 3 stone steps have to be erected, so the pagoda has an additional porch to create another low roof, looking from the front it looks like there are 3 roof floors.

Go through the temple porch and step through the wooden door steps to enter the front hall. High up in the middle of the front hall, there hangs a large Chinese character “Mao Co Than Thanh” which means the temple’s appearance is very sacred. Inside the statue hall is a place to worship Buddha, with pedestals from top to bottom placing statues and worship objects such as cloves, lamps…

Trung Pagoda
To get to this Bich Dong pagoda area, you need to turn towards the Ha pagoda and follow 90 stone steps on the S-shaped winding mountainside, about 30 meters high between the Ha pagoda and the Trung pagoda. Tourists’ first impression of this cliff is similar to the shape of a dragon.

Up to the Central pagoda, the hollow cliff opens up as high and wide as a dragon’s mouth opens wide. The upper jaw is a stone arch on the pagoda like an awning while the lower jaw is flat surrounding the temple yard.

On the roof of the pagoda is a large painting engraved with the word “Bich Dong” in two Chinese characters. Next to this text, there are also small “Nguyen Nghiem subtitles” and “Nhat Nam Nguyen editor” autographs of Trinh Sam pagoda, the head of Nhat Nam country at that time.

Thuong Pagoda
To get to Thuong Pagoda, you have to walk another 40 stone steps along the mountainside. Thuong Pagoda is a pagoda located on the mountainside, at the highest position, near the top of Bich Dong mountain. The pagoda is about 60 meters higher than the underground brick courtyard. The upper pagoda was built in the Southeast direction and worships Guanyin Buddha. There are two temples on both sides of the pagoda: the temple worshiping Tho Dia and worshiping Duc Son Than. Next to the pagoda there is also a water tank called Cam Lo water tank of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.

Some Notes When Going To Bich Dong Pagoda

Bich Dong Pagoda is often less crowded with tourists than Tam Coc. Therefore, there are few shops serving outside food. You should prepare enough food, water and necessary items at home in advance.

It is suggested that you should choose the time to go to the temple around April. The weather at this time is relatively dry, making it easy to travel by boat to Tam Coc.

You need to choose polite, discreet clothes when going to temples. Besides, you need to prepare yourself with specialized sports shoes or climbing shoes because when entering the Bich Dong pagoda area, you will have to walk and climb quite a lot of steps.
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