Mother Godness-Worshiping Cave (Dark Cave)
You are standing in front of the mother cave (dark cave) of the ancient Bai Dinh pagoda, if the light cave was discovered by the national monk Nguyen Minh Khong in 1136, the dark cave was discovered more than 200 years ago by locals here. At the entrance of the previous cave, there was a giant termite nest, where people dig a termite nest, a cave appears inside. When they saw that the side of the cave was worshiping Buddha, they set the cave on this side as the cave to worship and worship the Mother.
The belief in Mother Goddess worship is close to nature, heaven and earth, associated with the status of Vietnamese women, Vietnamese people come to Mother to find spiritual support and find the protection of their mother, even though they know that when Coming to this belief, people pray from the invisible, hoping to receive the visible. The belief in Mother Goddess worship is preserved through festivals, beliefs and spiritual life in order to survive for a long time in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people.
My country is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country with many different beliefs. However, since its formation, Vietnamese culture has been unified, but still has its own cultural features of each ethnic group living in the Vietnamese territorial community. Like other temples in Vietnam, Bai Dinh pagoda has a belief in worshiping the Holy Mother of God, towards the real life of people with wishes of health, fortune, luck... when entering the cave, you you will see an altar to the three goddesses.
The worshiper in the middle is the first model named Mother Lieu Hanh, wearing a red shirt, a red rosary - the color of vitality, the color of sacrifice, symbolizing the sacrifices of mothers.
On your right hand side is the Second Mother named Mau Thuong Ngan, who governs the mountains and forests, so she wears a blue shirt; wears a blue necklace.
On your left hand is the third model named Mau Thoai, who governs the river region, usually wearing a white shirt and a white ring; The Marquis of the Mother are the pair of Kim Dong and Ngoc Nu together with the Five Immortals, that is, the five supreme officials who perform the duties of the Mother when she gives her orders.
In particular, on December 1, 2016, at the 11th session of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage took place in the city of Addis Ababa, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. , the heritage "Practicing Belief of Mother Goddesses Worship" of the Vietnamese people has been officially inscribed by UNESCO in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The dark side of the cave is arranged with a rather fanciful lighting system, above are stalactites formed from underground water vessels, the steps of the connecting passage are decorated quite beautifully with the shape of a winding dragon. In the middle of Dark Cave, there is an air-conditioning well that creates a cool feeling that makes you feel like you are lost in the cave.
Here, we invite you to visit the temple of the person who gave birth to the ancient Bai Dinh pagoda, Quoc Su: Nguyen Minh Khong. Thank you for listening.