Cao Dai

by Nadia Kim

photos by Audrey Samuel

We, the travellers in search of Saigon visited the Cao Dai Temple on Day Two. Cao Dai temple is in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, about 2 hours drive away from the centre of Saigon.

Cao Dai is a syncretic religion that combines faith elements of Taoism, Christianity and Buddhism. This religion believes in the principle that all religions have one same divine origin. In addition, the religion emphasizes the practice of loving other living beings and the avoidance of harming others so that one may enter heaven.

The interiors of the temple.

On every window around the temple is painted the motif of an eye, which depicts the left eye of God, the master of heart, the two sources of pure light which are Yin and Yang. There are three animals carved as a motif displayed in the temple- dragon, unicorn and turtle. The dragon represents power, the unicorn prosperity, and the turtle wisdom.

A painting inside the temple.

In addition, the followers worship the three significant saints, the signatories of the third alliance between God and Mankind - Sun Yat-Sen, Victor Hugo and Nguyen Binh-Khiem. Sun Yat-Sen was a leader of the Chinese Revolution in 1911; Victor Hugo a French famed poet who was passionate about social justice, revealing himself under the name of Chuong Dao Nguyen Tam Chan Nhan, the last Nguyen Binh-Khiem a Vietnamese administrator, educator and poet who was famous for his reported ability of foretelling the future

There are two entrances- one for men and the other for women. Although there is no physical boundary that separates men from women, the men tend to stay at the right side of the temple to sit and pray, while the women worship at the left side of the temple. All of the worshippers don white-coloured traditional Vietnamese robes similar to that of the ao dai. The women tie their hair into tight buns while the men are spotted with black hats. There are three priests dressed in red, blue and yellow robes. The red Vietnamese dress symbolizes the Christian roots of the Cao Dai belief system; yellow refers to Buddhist origins of the Cao Dai faith while blue emblematizes that of Taoism.

Priests during the ceremony.

Devotees of the Cao Dai pray four times a day as they face the altar of an eye displayed in the centre of the temple. While we were at the temple, the bell rang at noon notifying the time for prayer; as the devotees started gathering in the temple, we gathered round to observe the ceremony, moving onto our next destination having enlightened ourselves after yet another informative visit to a religion not known to many.

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Nadia Namwoo Kim, the crazy Korean, studies International Studies. She will eat you if she is hungry. Beware!

Diary Entry Day 2: Of Temples & Tunnels

By Nadia Kim

Photos by Audrey Samuel

Woot woot! It’s day two! Today we are supposed to visit the Cao Dai temple and the legendary Chu Chi tunnels that happen to be quite a distance from Saigon city. Translated, it means that we had to leave the hotel premises by 7.30 am. I did not want to be left behind so I prepared myself to wake up at 6.30 but as it turned out, my alarm was running on Malaysian time! My little accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise - I had ample time for breakfast a morning toilet session! After reconciliating myself to my foolishness, I resumed my much deprived slumber. We gathered at 7.30 and boarded our tour bus and headed for the Cao Dai temple first.

It was a long journey and we had a short break at a  factory where victims of Agent Orange produce handmade crafts, especially the beautiful and intricate work that goes into an eggshell “painting”. The tour guide said that one eggshell painting would take at least two months to be completed. After taking a look around the workshop (we can’t afford much unfortunately), we quickly resumed our journey and finally arrived at the Cao Dai temple half an hour before noon.

Two women working on an eggshell painting of "Tintin in Vietnam"

The temple is a place of worship for those of the Cao Dai religion. It is a syncretic religion that preaches unity together in faith of one God - no matter of what religion - since as they believe all Gods are representations of one supreme deity. There were enormous hand paintings on the ceiling and pillars full of symbolic references to other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, decorated with dragons. The Cao Dai followers believe that the left eye is the manifestation of God, the left eye being closer to the heart. It was a unique cultural experience but also a spiritual one. And oh, Dr Yeoh accidentally entered the ladies room! How naughty naughty, Dr Yeoh!

The altar at Cao Dai Temple

Lunch was a stone’s throw away from the temple. We had simple food but we had great company with our wonderful and friendly student guides. We left for the Cu Chi Tunnels after lunch and these hand-dug tunnels served as shelter, communication and supply routes, hospital, kitchen and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The sound of shooting in the background made it seem so much more real (we later found out they were really gunshots!). We began with a black and white, rather biased video describing how the Chu Chi tunnels came about. It was truly a genius invention/creation. After the show, we visited some of the smaller tunnels, booby traps, weapons house, handmade splices and much more before finally arriving at the Chu Chi Tunnels. It was awesomely scary...

I decided to chance the tunnel despite my better judgement but then again - carpe diem! It was very tight and cramped. I had to bend my back the entire time and it was very tiring and claustrophobic. We were warned beforehand (by Dr Yeoh) that it might get smelly inside the tunnels as they smear petrol on its walls to prevent insects and animals from getting in.

 A quick escape route for the petite Viet Cong

When we finally returned to the hotel, it was already seven in the evening. As we all parted ways in front of the tour office, I had dinner with Dr. James Chin, Dr Yeoh, Joanna and Fei. Too lazy to sleep I decided to join some friends on a short trip to the night market. As we walked through the booths we bumped into another group of fellow travellers who had unfortunate news: Jia Wei’s wallet had been stolen from his backpack!

Not knowing what to do, we headed back to our hotel together. But shortly before the hotel, we parted ways once more.  After all, what better way  to end the day than a chilled drink?

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Nadia Namwoo Kim, the crazy Korean, studies International Studies. She will eat you if she is hungry. Beware!