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Tay Ninh
Area: 4,035.9 sq. km.
Population: 1,047.1 thousand habitants (2006)
Capital: Tay Ninh Town
Districts: Tan Bien, Tan Chau, Duong Minh Chau, Chau Thanh, Hoa Thanh, Ben Cau, Go Dau, Trang Bang.
Ethnic groups: Viet (Kinh), Khmer, Cham, Hoa.
Introduction: Geography, Tourism, Transportation.
Attraction:
- Historical & Cultural Vestiges: Cao Dai Great Temple.
- Scenic Landscapes: Ba Den Mountain, Dau Tieng Reservoir.
- Cultural Travel: Ba Den Moutain Festival.
Geography
 Located in Eastern of the South, Tay Ninh shares border with Cambodia on the north with 240km boundary, Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces on the east, Ho Chi Minh City and Long An Province on the south.
On the north, there is Ba Den Mountain, 986m in height. On the south, terrain is quite flat. The province has Vam Co Dong and Sai Gon rivers and Dau Tieng Lake.
Climate: The weather is hot, humid around year with annual average temperature of 27.5ºC, annual rainfall of 1,724mm. The dry season lasts from December to April and the rainy season lasts from May to November.
Tourism
Coming to Tay Ninh, tourists are able to visit Ba Den Mountain, a famous complex of cultural and historical sites and beauty  spots, and Binh Thanh Cham Tower, a monument of the Oc-Eo culture. Every year, Ba Den Mountain Festival attracts many pilgrims come to pray, sightseeing and enjoy the entertainment.
Tay Ninh is home of Cao Dai religion with Tay Ninh Cao Dai Temple, a complex of Great Temple, Chanh Mon Gate, four towers and Mother-of-Buddha Temple. The province also is base of revolution of South Vietnam during resistance against the Americans.
Transportation
Tay Ninh Town is 99km from Ho Chi Minh City, 224km from Vung Tau, 129km from Bien Hoa. There are Moc Bai and Xa Mat border gates to Cambodia. Moc Bai Market is trade center of Vietnamese and Cambodian.
Attraction
1) Historical & Cultural Vestiges
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Cao Dai Great Temple 
Location: Cao Dai Great Temple is located in Hoa Thanh District, 5km southeast of Tay Ninh Town.
Characteristics: Cao Dai Great Temple is the cathedral of the Cao Dai religion and is the main attraction in Tay Ninh.
Cao Dai Great Temple built between 1933 and 1955. The Great Temple is 140m long and 40m wide. It has 4 towers each with a different name: Tam Dai, Hiep Thien Dai, Cuu Trung Dai, and Bat Quai Dai. The interior of the temple consists of a colonnaded hall and a sanctuary. The 2 rows of columns are decorated with dragons and are coated in white, red, and blue paint. The domed ceiling is divided into 9 parts similar to a night sky full of stars and symbolizing heaven. Under the dome is a giant star-speckled blue globe on which is painted the Divine Eye, the official symbol of Caodaism. Cao Dai followers worship Jesus Christ, Confucius, Taoism, and Buddha.
2) Scenic Landscapes
 Location: Ba Den Mountain is located 11km Northeast of Tay Ninh Town and 106km from Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristics: It is a famous complex of cultural, historical and beautiful sites covering an area of more than 24km2.
The complex includes three mountains: Heo, Phung and Ba Den, of which the 986m-high Ba Den is the highest peak in the south.
Ba Den Mountain is also called Black Lady Mountain. According to legends, beautiful Ly Thi Thien Huong, Black Lady, was forced to marry the son of a rich mandarin while she fell in love with a poor man who was fighting the aggressors. Rather than marrying a man she did not love, she threw herself from the mountain.
Several shrines and pagodas were built in the mountain as well as in the caves. Ba and Hang Pagodas attract many pilgrims during the New Lunar  Year and Vu Lan Festivals.
There are three ways to reach Ba Temple. If you go on foot, it takes you over one hour to arrive at the destination. Cable cars take you 20 minutes to cover a distance of 1200m. The sliding system includes two lines going upward and downward, 1190m and 1700m in length respectively. It is impressive to take the downward line as it will take you through lots of hair-raising bends and corners.
Ba Den Mountain was where the headquarters of the liberation force of South Vietnam were located. During war time, many tough battles were fought in that area.
 Location: Dau Tieng Reservoir is located on the way to Tay Ninh, Cao Dai Great Temple, and Ba Den Mountain, 20km from Tay Ninh Town.
Characteristics: Dau Tieng Reservoir’s beautiful landscape of mountains, its mysterious islets, and its fresh and pure atmosphere shall give visitors an agreeable feeling.
The lake covers 27,000 ha and has a water reserve of 1.5 billion m3, irrigating Tay Ninh province as well neighboring provinces. Visitors shall also appreciate the food specialties of the locality.
3) Cultural Travel
Time: Spring Festival: From the 15th to the 18th day of the first lunar month; Via Ba Festival lasting from the 5th to the 6th day of the fifth lunar month.
Place: Ba Den Mountain, Tay Ninh Province.
Objects of worship: Linh Son Thanh Mau (Linh Son Saint Mother - Ba Den).
Characteristics: Two big festivals annually.
Spring Festival
The Ba Den Mountain Spring Festival is much boisterous than Via Ba Festival. Pilgrims go there for religious reasons as well as for sightseeing. The landscape displays its beauty in the fine weather. In the 20km-long route from Tay Ninh to the foot of Ba Den Mountain pilgrims from near and far crowd the road.
Via Ba Festival
The festival is held on the 5th to the 6th day of the fifth lunar month. At 0:00 hours on the 5th day of the fifth lunar month the Tam Ba (the statue washing of the Sacred Lady) ceremony takes place solemnly in the  worshipping altar. An elderly woman directs this ceremony. After burning incense to ask for the Lady’s permission, she and other assistants clean the statue with pure water, then with fragrant water. After three times of cleaning, they wear a new outfit for the statue and kow-tow before the statue. Lights inside the temple are switched on, incense burned, and doors open to welcome visitors.
Early in the morning of the 5th day of the fifth lunar month the chanting of Buddhist sutras signals the opening of the main festival day. Until 6 a.m monks in yellow outfit from nearby pagodas come to carry out the ritual in the ceremonial hall. During this day incense is burned continuously in the altars of Linh Son Thanh Mau, the Ba Chua Xu (Local Goddess), Buddha, or Ho Phap (Guardians).
Ten offerings presented to the altar of the Sacred Lady includes incense, oil lamp, flowers, tea, cinnamon, alcohol, vegetarian it cake, a pair of necklace, bracelet and earrings (three things of them are paper votive objects). Those serving the ceremony wear ceremonial costumes and walk to the accompaniment of music. After the incense offering ceremony, the monks pray the Buddhist sutras. The ceremony lasts two hours from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. On the 6th day of the fifth lunar month several rituals are held. The monks read Buddhist sutras in the altar dedicated to Buddha. The temple is open for pilgrims near and far from early in the morning until late at night.
(Source: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism) |
