Hanoi water puppet

 Located very close to Hoan Kiem Lake at 57B, Dinh Tien Hoang Street is the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. Water puppets are very typical to Vietnam and is the art of only this country.

History of water puppet:

Every year during the annual rice harvest, farmers in Vietnam's Red river delta region would gather together for singing and dancing. Water puppets were added as a recreation. The rice fields would be filled with water which formed a stage. The show was held for royalty by their subjects.

During the reign of Ly Dynasty in the 12th century, water puppets were chosen to entertain the king and their guests.

Since, they were perfomed in the rice fields, puppeteers had to stand in water for a long time exposing them to leeches and foot infection.

In 1969, the theater was established and from 1990, water puppets shows started regularly in Thang Long theater.

Many puppets shows are held throughout the world but Vietnam's water puppet is the only one of its kind in world.

Little knowledge of Vietnam culture makes the shows interesting. The "script" surrounds everyday life of Vietnamese farmers like cultivation of rice, ploughing of fields using buffalo, entertainment included dragon dance. Another interesting act is returning of gold sword to King Le Loi in Hoan Kiem lake.

Making of puppets:

The material used in puppets is special. They are made of fig wood which is light and can float on water easily. They are then painted with lacquer.

The water gives resistance to maneuver the puppets, which is more difficult than perfoming the act on land. It takes a lot of practice and hard work to master the art of water puppeteers to become skilled using bamboo sticks and strings. The color of water is colored dark blue so, it is not easy to see the strings used by puppeteers.

The puppets are 12-39 inches high and weigh from 1 kg to 5kgs for smaller ones and up to 20 kgs for bigger ones.

The stage:

A dark blue colored water "pond" of 4 meters square forms the stage for enactment. The puppeteers stand in water throughout the show behind the "curtain" and control the puppets from there. Musical  instruments include traditional instruments as dan bau, drums, gongs, flutes, cymbals. They also lend their voices during inactments. Sometimes mist over character leads to some suspense.

The top of pool reflects Vietnamese architecture decorated with flags.

opening music

The performance begins with music which is performed by artists who sit on both sides of of "stage" which is beautifully decorated.

Cheu Teu narrator

The shows begins with Cheu Teu, a jester who gives an introduction to the show.

dragon dance

farmers working on fields

boat trio of King Ly

This part shows King Le Loi returning the sword back to the turtle, after he won the battle against Minh empire.

fairy tale dance

puppeters behind the stage

artists

On conclusion of around 45 minutes show, the artists come out and the audiences cheer them.

Tickets:

Its always safe to buy tickets in advance. The tickets cost 150,000 VND for front seats and 100,000VND for seats at the back.

Jao Mae Tub Tim Shrine, Hua Hin

Very close to the beach near Hilton is an old Chinese temple. I could not find much information about the temple. It has three shrines, Chao Por Somboon, Chao Mae Tabtim, Chao Por Sai Nam Kheaw. Within each shrines are small shrines on either side the main deity.

This temple is also sometimes known by the name Sai Nam Kheaw Shrine.

temple with dragons facing each other on top

pole encircled by dragon

In Chinese culture, the dragon represents good luck, strength, health. Usually, it is seen encircling a pole holding a lamp.

shrine next to dragon pole

a lion guards the temple on both sides

Chao Por Somboon:

Chao Por Somboon

smaller shrines inside

Chao Por Kuan Auu

On right side of the center image is God Kuan Auu or Guan Yu. He is the symbol of honesty, gratitude and loyalty. He is also worshipped as the God of courage, fortune and prestige.

Chao Mae Hua Hin and Chao Por Somboon

In the center are two images: Chao Mae Hua Hin protecting Hua Hin and Chao Por Somboon

Chao Por Sura on the left side

Chao Mae Tabtim:

Chao Mae Tabtim

This shrine is in the center. Chaomae Tabtum is the main deity here.

Tee Chu Eae on right side

Chaomae Tabtim in center

Devotees usually come to visit Chao Mae Thaptim or Jao Mae Tub Tim who is the goddess of fertility. They make offerings in return for happy and healthy children.

Chaopor Sai Nam Kheaw:

Chao Por Sai Nam Kheaw

Chao Mae Kua Nim or Im

Chao Mae Kuan Im in center

Kuan Im, who is the goddess of compassion and mercy

Chao Por Sai Nam Kheaw on left side

On the left side, seated on white elephants are what look like Hindu God Vishnu

small images of Lord Buddha in a hole of tree

furnace to burn joss paper

seems like an old place to burn joss paper

With sea behind, it is a good place to contemplate in front of the temple

time to relax

path from the beach

Opening Hours:

Daily 10;00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Tam Chuc Pagoda 2, Vietnam

 After visiting Dien Tam The, we start our climb up to Ngoc Pagoda or the Jade Pagoda. The climb is not very easy. I take a sigh of relief on reaching the top and give myself a victorious pat.

view from above

Ngoc Pagoda:

The Jade Pagoda is the highest point in the complex and is located on top of one of the seven That Tinh mountains. Though area of pagoda is only 13 square meters but the whole structure weighs 2,000 tons!

The 15 meter high pagoda is made of red granite stones from India. One astonishing feature of this pagoda is that no cement or any adhesive material has been used to assemble the slabs together.

The image is carved in monolith jade which was sourced from Myanmar.

The image of Amitabha weighs 1.5 tons and stands on a white lotus.

On three sides inside alcoves is an image of Buddha

coming down 299 steps

Dien Phap Cu:

After visiting Ngoc Pagoda, we proceed to Dien Phap Chu. Phap Chu Palace is 31 meters high and is located below Dien Tam The.

Sakyamuni Buddha is worshipped in this temple.

temple has 2 curved roofs

Three images of Buddha on the side of temple with one in reclining posture in white

reclining posture of Buddha

A monolith bronze image of Buddha sits in the center of hall

 It is 150 tons in weight and sits in a bhumisparsh mudra or calling the earth to witness. Behind the image is a golden plate with dharamchakra on it.

it is the largest image in Southeast Asia

customary offering of betal nut and leaf

Around the hall on side walls are around 10,000 reliefs related to Buddha's life.

Buddha recieves food from Sujata

All the reliefs in this temple are numbered and an account of each is given below in Vietnamese and English. This makes it very easy to understand the section.

Gautam Buddha blesses his father, Suddhodana

Four large reliefs:

Each relief depicts a turning point in the life of Buddha.

There are wall to wall reliefs also along with small section of reliefs

The above relief depicts Buddha's first sermon

Reclining Buddha surrounded by his disciples

big bell inside the temple

Dien Quan Am:

Last temple to visit in the complex is Dien Quan Am.

The two roofed temple is 30.5 meters high and has a floor area of 3,000 square meters.

girls in traditional Vietnamese attire pose for a photo shoot as it was Women's day in Vietnam

Inside the temple is 150 ton solid bronze image of Quan Am or Guan Yin Boddhisattava.

More images in front of the main image

Quan Am or the Goddess of Mercy is sometimes portrayed with 8 or many arms signifying that she can help many people at the same time and is the embodiment of saving people from dangers and misfortune.

small reliefs showing anecdotes related to Quan Am

Garden of Sutras:

Between the temple o Quan Am and Tam Quan gate or  the 3-arched entrance is the garden of sutras. It is commonly known as the garden of pillars or Vuon Cor Kihn in Vietnamese.

garden of Sutras

There are 32 monolith pillars, 13.5 meters high and weighing 200 tons each. They are made from Thanh Hoa green stone which is a green limestone and is found in Vinh Loc are, 60 kms from Thanh Hoa city.

The octagonal pillars denoting the 8-fold path stand on a fully bloomed lotus and have a closed lotus bud on top.  All sides of the pillar have Sutras.

Sutras are records of teachings given by Sakhyamuni Buddha.

Apart from these four temples, there is Dinh Thu guest house, the first thing you notice on the lake. It is also called International Convention Center. Conventions are held here.

It is a three-floor guest house and seems to sitting on the Luc Nhac lake. With a height of 31 meters and area of 2,000 meter square, it can accomodate around 3,000 people. The upper floor serves as a dining area.

There is also a shrine dedicated to Queen Dinh Duong Thi Nguyet on an island in the lake.  It is connected by a zig zag bridge. Visitors going by boat can access that.

Opening hours:

the complex open from 6 am.

Entrance fee:

there is no entrance fee, however one needs to pay for transport from parking lot to Tam Quan.

Visitor can opt for an electric car which costs 60,000 VND ($2.60) per person, round trip or a boat which takes around much longer and costs 200,000 VND ( around $ 8.00), round trip.

Other things to note:

As is customary, visitors need to be dressed properly. Avoid wearing short skirts or shorts or short tops.

Respect their culture.

Soon after, it was time for lunch. We headed to a Vietnamese restaurant which was known for serving the local bird, con cò.

Con cò

Con cò is a little egret found mostly in the rice fields. It has a long beak so as to eat small insects.

gà lôi

Gà lôi is a phesasant.

 fried gà lôi with lemon grass

At the end, I would say, Tam Chuc is worth a visit. There is continuous construction going on. The whole complex would be completed by 2045. The place would have its own golf course, a resort so that people can come and combine relaxation with spirituality.