Bai Dinh Temple, Ninh Binh

Bai Dinh Temple is a massive Buddhist temple complex located in Ninh Binh Province 23 km by road to the north west of the popular Tam Coc Village, which is the starting point for a Tam Coc Boat Tour.

• Opening hours: 07:00 to 22:00 (Monday to Sunday)
• Entrance fee:
  • Visiting the temple: free
  • Electric shuttle car: 60,000 VND
  • Electric shuttle car and entrance to the stupa: 220,00 VND

If you choose to walk to the temple from the car park, and don’t enter the tall stupa, then it’s entirely free to visit Bai Dinh Temple except for the cost of transport to get there and parking fees at the temple.

About Bai Dinh Temple

Bai Dinh Temple consists of a small original temple dating back to the 11th Century, and a much larger new temple complex built at the start of the 21st Century. The temple covers an area of about 700 hectares. To give you an idea of how large the temple is a good point of comparison is London Gatwick Airport, which covers 674 hectares.

Bai Dinh Temple is generally considered to be the largest Buddhist temple complex in Vietnam.

Despite its size and grandeur, Bai Dinh Temple receives relatively few visitors compared to the large numbers of tourists who take boat tours in Tam Coc and Trang An. Most visitors come on organised tours and so long as keep your distance from tour groups visitors it rarely seems crowded at this temple.

Visiting Bai Binh Temple

Bai Dinh Temple doesn’t charge for admittance, but it does charge for an electric car service which takes visitors from the entrance to the temple complex, and then carries on in a loop around the site before returning to the gift shop before the exit to the temple.

Because Bai Dinh Temple is so large it’s worth using the electric car service to save your energy for exploring the temple itself. On a hot day a visit to the temple can be exhausting, particularly given that the temple is located a hillside and there are plenty of stairs to walk up and down.

Internal Gates and Arhat Statue Corridor

The Internal Gates which lead to the Arhat Staue Corridor are the first parts of Bai Dinh Temple you come to if you travel on the electric car service from the main entrance. When we visited we didn’t use the electric car service again until we reached the other end of the temple complex and wanted to leave.

The Internal Gates at Bai Dinh Temple form an impressive entrance to the temple. The gate itself is made of wood, 16.5 metres tall, 32 metres long and 13.5 metres wide. Within the gate building are two large bronze statues each 5.5 metres tall.

From the Internal Gates you come to the Arhat Statue Corridor, which is one of the most impressive features of Bai Dinh Temple. It consists of two rows of 250 statues, with each row stretching 1.8 km. The statues themselves are very large, each made from stone and weighing around 2.5 tons. The statues represent the very holiest of Buddhist monks who have a status similar to Christian saints. Each statue is unique, and the different poses they strike all have their own special significance.

Bell Tower

Close to the Arhat Statue Corridor is the temple’s bell tower, and like everything else at Bai Dinh Temple this is a bell tower on a grand scale. The bell tower is octagonal in shape with three floors rising 22 metres from ground level. The bell tower has two sets of staircases providing easy access to all three levels.

The bell contained within the tower is believed to be the largest bell in Vietnam. It’s made of bronze, weighs 26 tons, and was made by craftsmen in Hue in Central Vietnam.

Below the bell is an equally impressive drum, which is 6 metres wide, 7 metres tall and also made of bronze.

Buddha Sakyamuni Hall

The Buddha Sakyamuni Hall is the first of two massive shrine halls at Bai Dinh Temple. The building itself is very large, 34 metres tall and 40 metres wide. It’s a building intended to inspire awe in the same way as the vaulted ceilings of medieval cathedrals in Europe.

Inside the hall is even more impressive than the exterior. The centre piece of the Buddha Sakyamuni Hall is the 9.5 metre statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha. Believed to weigh around 100 tons, it’s the largest bronze statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Asia.

To either side of the Sakyamuni Buddha are two further bronze statues each 7 metres tall. These statues represent the two closest disciples of the Sakyamuni Buddha, Ananda and Mahacaspa.

Also notable are the 1616 niches in the walls of this hall. Each niche contains a smaller statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha.

Three Periods Hall

The Three Periods Hall is the second of the great shrine halls at Bai Dinh Temple. The hall is about the same size as the Buddha Sakyamuni Hall and there are many other similarities in their design and decoration.

Three Periods Hall is dedicated to three eras: the past (Amitabha Buddha); the present (Sakyamuni Buddha); and the future Buddha (Maitreya Buddha).  There is a 7 metre tall bronze statue of each of the three positioned in a row. The facial features of the three statues are the same, each though is holding a different pose.

The Three Periods Hall also has a number of other interesting features, including some great models of other Buddhist temples around the world, and more niches filled with small golden statues of the Sakyamuni Buddha.

Bao Thien Stupa

The Bao Thien Stupa is the most famous feature Bai Dinh Temple. This octagonal tower is 100 metres tall and from the top the views of the temple complex and the surrounding area are fantastic.

Bao Thien Temple is the one part of Bai Dinh Temple which you need to pay to enter. We recommend paying the extra and going to the top of the stupa, and if you have time visiting the other 12 levels below.

As is the tradition with Buddhist temples all over Asia, the stupa at Bai Dinh Temple contains holy relics. These relics came from India, Myanmar and Thailand and are said to include crystals which came from the cremation fire of the Lord Buddha. The relics are enshrined on the top floor of the stupa inside a room with a very ornate ceiling. The design of the ceiling decoration is very unusual and is in Indian in style.

Fortunately there is a lift at Bao Thien Stupa to take visitors up to the 13 floor where there is an outside balcony stretching around all six sides of the tower. The balcony is fairly wide and there is a thick metal guardrail.

Location of Bai Dinh Temple

Bai Dinh Temple is located 22.8 km by road from Ninh Binh Railway Station.