Hua Lu Temple, Ninh Binh, Vietnam

On our way to Ninh Binh, even before we stopped by for the boat ride in Trang An, of which I have written a post here, we had visited the earlier capital of Vietnam, which lies 90 km south of Ha Noi and is called the Hua Lu, a beautiful ancient city that was the economic and political center of Dai Co Viet, ( older name of Vietnam) a kingdom that extended from what is now northern Vietnam to the center during the 10th and 11th centuries.

At the impressive entrance of the King Dinh Temple, atop the bridge over River Hoang Long

But you folks saw from the pictures we had posted about Ninh Binh, how mesmerizing the place was and actually this ancient city just took a back seat in our memories. Since we listened to the spicy stories of this king from Lan, our guide, I thought it is important to document the cultural essence of Vietnam here in this travel posts on Vietnam.

With a view of Huang Long river, Sudha and me posing 

For a country’s capital city, Hua Lu was a natural geographic choice because of the limestone mountains keeping the city well-hidden from potential invaders. The city is bordered by the Hoang Long River, which also runs through the citadel. It cools the city in the sticky summer months and provides a convenient waterway for trade and other businesses.

King Dinh Temple, that we visited has one of the unique architectures in Hua Lu Ancient Capital, worshiping King Dinh Tien Hoang (King of Dai Co Viet Dynasty). According to Vietnamese chronicles, Dinh Bo Linh, of peasant ancestry, was the adopted son of a feudal lord, the prefect of Hua Lu. While he was a youngster he was skilled in domesticating wild buffaloes and used to be part of buffalo races. He was one of 12 chieftains among whom was divided Nam Viet, which consisted of northern Vietnam and three central Vietnamese provinces. Dinh Bo Linh defeated each of the other 11 lords and by AD 968 had gained control of all Nam Viet. Proclaiming himself emperor, he called the reunited country Dai Co Viet.

The one in the black pants is our energetic and camera intelligent tour guide Lan. The babes with her. 

Dinh Tien Hoang was known as a courageous warrior and an able administrator and diplomat, but his authoritarian regime and his fondness for courtly pleasures made him many enemies, even within his family and his court. He and the crown prince were assassinated in 979 by a mystic seer through King Dinh’s wife by poisoning their food. Because the emperor’s heirs were too young to assert their position, the Dinh dynasty fell within a year of his death.

In the 17th century much after the original structures had been done to dust, the Vietnamese folk artists built the temple of King Dinh using wood and stone carvings. The temple offers an ancient and sediment beauty and makes us feel how the city was a millennium ago.

The temple is divided into three shrines: the outer one is Ngo Mon Gate, the middle is called Thien Huong and the inner one worships King Dinh Tien Hoang, which is the main house. This temple itself is spread across a garden of 5 hectares wide and is built with a special architecture, the interior of which has an “I letter” shape, surrounded by a square land.

Story of King Dinh in a mural form while you cross the first gate and proceed towards the second one. 

The babes in front of the second gate.
- notice the two buddhist pillars? 

When you cross the impressive Ngo Mon gate, that has three large doors as soon as you cross the river, you get to see the entire history of King Dinh in a mural form.

After a long walk, we reached the middle one with a stone dragon bed and to the second gate. This one had two Buddhist pillars on either side of the gate with an expansive courtyard in which the dragon bed is present.Looking at the bed surface you can easily find sculptured dragons, shrimps, fishes, rats images which are made with dexterity and skill. This dragon bed is where the king would call courtiers if announcements had to be made.

The stone bed in the foreground with the main house as the backdrop 

Past this is the main house that has 3 parts. The first one is the worshiping place with 5 rooms. The second is an incense burning room where they worship 4 important mandarins under Dinh dynasty. The third main part, the most important one, is separated to the second by a high door. Here you can witness King Dinh Tien Hoang being worshiped along with his three sons. The old utensils and vessels used by the royals can also be seen in the house.

The wooden statue of King Dinh, which is worshipped by the local Viatnamese people

Another room in the main house 

Immersed in the ancient culture and drunk in the ethos of Dai Co Viet, which later came to be known as Vietnam, we, the babes, didn’t know what was awaiting us in Ninh Binh, but with enthusiasm continued our journey for the day.

After all the loitering around in the King Dinh temple, we relaxed in the temple complex for a while