Experience spiritual tourism in Khanh Hoa

Ponagar Tower, Long Son Pagoda, Suoi Do Pagoda, and Christ the King Cathedral are spiritual tourist attractions that visitors can visit when coming to Khanh Hoa.

Ponagar Tower Nha Trang

Ponagar Tower is located about 2 km from the center of Nha Trang city, on a small hill. The word Ponagar in Cham means "motherland". The structure was built from about the 7th to 13th century. The tower worships the goddess Po Ina Nagar - the goddess who created the Earth, water, trees and food, the origin of life.

The overall architecture has three areas: the Gate Tower area, the Mandapa (vestibule area) and finally the temple tower area. After many ups and downs of history, there are now only 5 structures remaining in the Mandapa and temple tower.

Overview of Ponagar Tower. Photo: Alamy

The Mandapa is the Front Courtyard area with 4 rows of columns with 10 large columns inside and 12 small columns outside. In the past, this location was where offerings were prepared for the Gods before the ceremony. To go up to offer incense, visitors had to go through steep stairs. The ancients believed that to meet the goddess, people had to overcome challenges. That was the respect for the god of the sky and sea.

The second area is the temple tower, which used to have 6 structures, but now only 4 remain: the Northeast tower, the South tower, the Southeast tower and the Northwest tower. The Southeast tower is the main tower, the tallest (23m), with a statue of Goddess Po Ina Nagar, on both sides are altars for Co and Cau. Each architectural line carries spiritual meanings that the Cham people want to record, expressing their worship of the gods.

Long Son Pagoda

This is a hundred-year-old ancient temple, built in 1886 and named Dang Long Tu. Over time, after many restorations, Long Son still retains its unique architectural and sculptural features from ancient times.

Long Son Pagoda is also known as the White Buddha Pagoda. It has a statue of the Golden Body of Buddha, carved in a meditating position on a Buddha platform, built in 1963. The statue is recognized by the Vietnam Guinness Book of Records as "the largest outdoor Buddha statue in Vietnam", with a height of 14 m and a height of 24 m from the ground.

The Golden Buddha Statue. Photo: Tran Quynh

To visit the Golden Body of Buddha, visitors need to climb 193 steps. At the 44th step is the second largest statue of the pagoda - the statue of Buddha entering Nirvana. The statue is made of granite, 15m long, 5m high, behind is a relief of 49 disciples of Buddha gathered on the day of Buddha's death.

Long Son campus is over 3,000 m2 wide, the main hall is over 1,500 m2 wide. Visitors are required to wear long pants to enter, to maintain the solemnity of the Buddha's gate.

Cam Ranh Snail Pagoda

Oc Pagoda, also known as Tu Van Pagoda, was built in 1968 and is located in the center of Cam Ranh city, about 60 km south of Nha Trang.

The most prominent feature of Oc Pagoda is Bao Tich Tower, built of coral stone, 39 m high. The first floor of the tower is for visitors, the second floor is for Buddha worship. The tower has an elaborate structure with 49 pyramid-shaped towers on the outside, each tower has a statue of Buddha with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. The eight doors symbolize the "Eightfold Path".

The decorative patterns in the tower are all carved and connected from snail and clam shells. It took the monks 5 years to complete this work.

Bao Tich Tower at Oc Pagoda. Photo: vietpictures

After visiting Bao Tich tower, visitors can go to the 500m long road leading to Hell. The road goes underground, the space gradually darkens, the air is humid, the scenery is gloomy. On the road, there are 12 boards recording the crimes of people in the world, advising people not to do evil but to live honestly and create good fortune.

The last area that visitors can visit is Bat Nha Hoa Vien. This place has many ancient trees, flowers, plants, and animal statues made from snail shells, consistent with the typical architecture.

Cathedral of Christ the King

The Cathedral of Christ the King is known by many names by the locals such as Nha Trang Church, Nga Sau Church, Stone Church, Mountain Church. The building is located on the top of Hoang Lan Hill, at the intersection of Nguyen Trai Street and Thai Nguyen Street (Nga 6). The church started construction in 1928 and was completed in 1933. To create a flat surface on the top of Bong Mountain, 12m high, people had to use about 500 mines during construction.

The building is built in the Western Catholic Gothic style with high, wide arches pointing straight up to the sky. The high bell tower in the middle has three bells hanging inside, and a large clock outside with four faces facing four directions.

Inside the Stone Church. Photo: Nha Trang today

The interior of the church is spacious and airy, divided into the sanctuary area and the area behind the sanctuary, which is pure and solemn. The windows are paintings of saints, made from stained glass, making the space of the church filled with light.

Visitors should pay attention to the mass times so as not to affect the solemn atmosphere. The main mass times of Nha Trang Cathedral on weekdays are from 4:45 am to 5 pm. On Sundays, they are at 5 am, 7 am, 9:30 am, 3 pm, 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Each mass lasts about 1 hour.

Suoi Do Pagoda

Located at an altitude of 200 m, on the west side of Hoang Nguu mountain, about 30 km from the city center, the temple with red roof stands out in the middle of green nature. Coming here, visitors can immerse themselves in the natural scenery with mountains, forests, lakes, waterfalls and streams flowing through each crevice of rocks, mixed with the sound of birds, creating a peaceful and pure feeling.

After climbing hundreds of steep steps on Hoang Nguu Mountain, visitors will see two paths leading to two pagodas in the Suoi Do Pagoda complex: Quan Am Son Tu on the left and Pho Da Son Tu on the right.

Suoi Do Pagoda is located in the middle of majestic mountains and forests. Photo: bazantravel

Quan Am Son Tu is famous for its statue of Buddha Quan Am overlooking Nha Trang city. The main hall worships Buddha Quan Am, on the right is the temple of the Five Mothers - Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. On the left is the temple of the Holy Mother Thien YA Na. Pho Da Son Tu is the place to worship Buddha Bon Su Am Da.

Behind Pho Da Pagoda, there is a path leading to the Fairy Well on the top of the mountain. The well is so deep that the bottom cannot be seen, and has water all year round, never running dry. The water in the well is cool and clear, flowing down the rocky slope, forming small streams.

On her birthday, which is the 8th, 18th, and 28th of the first lunar month, Khanh Hoa people often come here to worship and offer prayers for everything to go smoothly and peacefully.

Lan Anh

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