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Tay Ninh Province
Geography
Area: 4,035.9 sq. km.
Population: 1,047.1 thousand habitants (2006)
Capital: Tay Ninh Town
Districts: Tan Bien, Tan Chau, Duong Minh Chau, Chau Thanh, Hoa Thanh, Ben Cau, Go Dau, Trang Bang.
Located in Eastern of the South, Tay Ninh shares border with Cambodia on the north with 240km boundary, Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces on the east, Ho Chi Minh City and Long An Province on the south.
On the north, there is Ba Den Mountain, 986m in height. On the south, terrain is quite flat. The province has Vam Co Dong and Sai Gon rivers and Dau Tieng Lake.
Climate
The weather is hot, humid around year with annual average temperature of 27.5ºC, annual rainfall of 1,724mm. The dry season lasts from December to April and the rainy season lasts from May to November.
Attractions
Cao Dai Great Temple
Location: Cao Dai Great Temple is located in Hoa Thanh District, 5km southeast of Tay Ninh Town.
Characteristics: Cao Dai Great Temple is the cathedral of the Cao Dai religion and is the main attraction in Tay Ninh.
Cao Dai Great Temple built between 1933 and 1955. The Great Temple is 140m long and 40m wide. It has 4 towers each with a different name: Tam Dai, Hiep Thien Dai, Cuu Trung Dai, and Bat Quai Dai. The interior of the temple consists of a colonnaded hall and a sanctuary. The 2 rows of columns are decorated with dragons and are coated in white, red, and blue paint. The domed ceiling is divided into 9 parts similar to a night sky full of stars and symbolizing heaven. Under the dome is a giant star-speckled blue globe on which is painted the Divine Eye, the official symbol of Caodaism. Cao Dai followers worship Jesus Christ, Confucius, Taoism, and Buddha.
Ba Den Mountain
Location: Ba Den Mountain is located 11km Northeast of Tay Ninh Town and 106km from Ho Chi Minh City.
Characteristics: It is a famous complex of cultural, historical and beautiful sites covering an area of more than 24km2.
The complex includes three mountains: Heo, Phung and Ba Den, of which the 986m-high Ba Den is the highest peak in the south.
Ba Den Mountain is also called Black Lady Mountain. According to legends, beautiful Ly Thi Thien Huong, Black Lady, was forced to marry the son of a rich mandarin while she fell in love with a poor man who was fighting the aggressors. Rather than marrying a man she did not love, she threw herself from the mountain.
Several shrines and pagodas were built in the mountain as well as in the caves. Ba and Hang Pagodas attract many pilgrims during the New Lunar Year and Vu Lan Festivals.
There are three ways to reach Ba Temple. If you go on foot, it takes you over one hour to arrive at the destination. Cable cars take you 20 minutes to cover a distance of 1200m. The sliding system includes two lines going upward and downward, 1190m and 1700m in length respectively. It is impressive to take the downward line as it will take you through lots of hair-raising bends and corners.
Ba Den Mountain was where the headquarters of the liberation force of South Vietnam were located. During war time, many tough battles were fought in that area.