1. Where is Ong Bon Pagoda?
Ong Bon Pagoda is located at 9A, Nguyen Van Troi Street, Ward 1, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. It is about 1.5 km northeast of the city center and about 210 km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City.
2. How is Ong Bon Pagoda unique?
In the past, Ong Bon Pagoda was just a small temple of the Chinese community residing here. But gradually, after many changes, renovations and improvements, the pagoda has become much more spacious. And it has become one of the most famous spiritual tourist destinations in the city.
Although it has undergone many renovations and repairs, the beauty and original architecture of Ong Bon Pagoda in Soc Trang are still preserved intact until now. From ancient times to the present, local people still consider this one of the most sacred pagodas.
In addition to the common name Ong Bon Pagoda, this building is also famous as A Con Pagoda or Hoa An Hoi Quan. These names all come from the process of formation and development of the pagoda and the affection and beliefs that Soc Trang people have for this place.
In addition, the pagoda also has many other rare antiques. Such as wooden statues of Ong Bon, Thien Hau Thanh Mau, Ong Phuoc Duc, which are gilded with red paint. Or the ancient incense burner set in the shape of a Thai Tue, three sets of square incense burners, a pair of cranes and turtles holding lotus flowers made of colored metal. And the altars made of precious wood, …
With great historical, cultural and architectural values, the pagoda was recognized as a cultural and architectural art relic on May 12, 2004.
3. When is the best time to visit Ong Bon Pagoda?
According to the experience of exploring Soc Trang, you can visit Ong Bon Pagoda at any time of the year. This unique pagoda attracts a lot of visitors from all over the world to make pilgrimages and visit the scenery every year. Therefore, the atmosphere here seems to be always bustling and exciting.
However, on special occasions such as full moon days, A Con’s birthday, Lunar New Year, Lantern Festival, … Ong Bon Pagoda is more crowded than ever. When coming to the pagoda during this time, you will have the opportunity to attend special festivals and many interesting traditional activities.
4. How to get to Ong Bon Pagoda?
Ong Bon Pagoda is located right in the center of Soc Trang city. Moreover, the roads here are also spacious and convenient. Therefore, you can easily get to the pagoda by motorbike, private car, passenger van or taxi.
Starting from Ho Chi Minh City, you can go to Soc Trang along National Highway 1A by self-driving car, motorbike or passenger van. If you go by personal vehicle, for more convenience in traveling, please refer to Google Maps. In case you go by passenger van, you can rent a motorbike in Soc Trang to continue moving to the pagoda. After arriving at the center of Soc Trang city, you just need to follow Hai Ba Trung street and turn right onto Nguyen Van Troi to reach Ong Bon Pagoda.
5. Which gods are worshiped at Ong Bon Pagoda?
The main hall of Ong Bon Pagoda is the place to worship Trinh An, also known as Cam Thien Dai De. According to legend, Trinh An was a talented and virtuous founding minister who lived under the Song Dynasty in China. He had many great contributions in teaching people to work hard, reclaim land, establish villages, and advise everyone to always maintain etiquette and good customs.
However, because he was harmed by a treacherous minister, Trinh An was sentenced to death. On the day of his execution, the sky and earth poured down a heavy rain, and the landscape was dotted with a rosy glow. The people saw such a heavenly sign and felt even more sorry and moved, and built a temple to worship Trinh An, honoring him as a god of fortune. He brought a prosperous, happy life and hope to the people.
This story reached the court, causing the king to awaken, sympathize, and bestow upon Trinh An the title of Cam Thien Dai De. That is, his loyalty touched the heavens. In addition to the main hall worshiping Trinh An, the two side rooms are where the altars of Phuc Duc Chinh Than and Thien Hau Thanh Mau are placed. They are all gods with great contributions in Chinese history, and are highly respected and admired by the indigenous people.
6. Admiring the unique architecture of Ong Bon Pagoda
Ong Bon Pagoda has an architectural style imbued with the ancient Chinese temple style. The two words “Tang” and “Phuoc” are carved extremely prominently outside the temple gate. It implies creating blessings, fortune and wishing for a prosperous and abundant life for the people. Right from the architectural lines on the outside, Ong Bon Pagoda in Soc Trang has exuded the eternal Buddhist philosophy of saving the suffering, saving the victims, and saving all living beings.
When observing from the incense burner placed in the middle of the large temple grounds. You can see that all the column bases and the three-step foundation from the interior area to the main door were carved from stone by Chinese artisans in the past.
In addition, people built the entire Ong Bon Pagoda in the shape of the word “Phu” with many meticulously carved motifs. Such as: “long phuong sum vay”, “long ho tranh dau” or “bat tien thi vo”. Moreover, above the tiled roof of the temple is a majestic statue of “two dragons worshiping the moon”.
These are two mascots often seen in the palace architecture of kings or sacred places in the past. In particular, on both sides of the door leading to the shrine are carved many drawings, writings and folk riddles of ancient Chinese people. With the purpose of praising the merits of the gods. And above, adjacent to the tiled roof, is a row of bright red lanterns that highlight the space of the temple every night.
It is worthy visiting Ong Bon pagoda
When entering the shrine, you will definitely be overwhelmed by a row of extremely magnificent Chinese parallel sentences. They are hung and mounted on columns from the Front Hall to the Main Hall. On the left is the majestic White Tiger altar, on the right is the heroic Thanh Long altar. It symbolizes both feng shui elements and is a sacred animal that guards against evil spirits and drives away bad luck.
In addition, the temple is “divided into three levels” including the Front Hall, the Middle Hall and the Main Hall, and worships different gods. In the middle of the halls is a skylight to let in natural light to brighten up the space. The area inside the halls is very spacious so everyone can comfortably burn incense and pray for peace.
7. Participating in the unique lantern auction festival at Ong Bon Pagoda
One of the unique features of Ong Bon Pagoda is the lantern auction festival on the occasion of the New Year. On each lantern are written wishes of good luck such as peace, prosperity, prosperity, etc. This activity creates a joyful, bustling atmosphere and demonstrates the spirit of solidarity and mutual love between ethnic communities in Soc Trang province.
In addition, the pagoda also uses the festival to call on people to join hands in raising charity funds for public service activities. The money raised from the auction will be used for meaningful activities. Such as: teaching Chinese, distributing rice, buying books for poor students, building schools, charity houses, … Therefore, Ong Bon Pagoda in Soc Trang is not only a spiritual tourist destination for people to visit the architecture, learn about the local culture. But also contributes to building this land to develop more and more.
8. Enjoying Soc Trang specialties when visiting Ong Bon Pagoda
When visiting this ancient pagoda, you will not only admire the unique architecture or hear interesting legends. And especially see the giant bats. But you also have the opportunity to enjoy delicious dishes of this beautiful land. The special dishes include: Noodle soup with fish, Vermicelli rice salad, Pia cake, Cake with jelly, Sesame Apple. Or braised star goby with lemongrass and chili, Banh Khot, Shrimp crackers, Duck noodle soup with pepper, Soc Trang grilled veal.
9. Accommodation when visiting Ong Bon Pagoda
When visiting this famous spiritual site, you can refer to some of the following accommodations:
- Net Viet Hotel Vincom Soc Trang. Address: 22 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 2, Soc Trang.
- Ngoc Thu Hotel. Address: Km 2127 Highway 1A, An Hiep Commune, My Tu District, Soc Trang.
- Thien An Hotel. Address: 293 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 3, Soc Trang City.
- Satraco Royal Hotel. Address: 198 Van Ngoc Chinh, Ward 3, Soc Trang.
- My Hang Hotel. Address: 478 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 2, Soc Trang.
- Ngoc Lan Hotel. Address: 182 Le Hong Phong Street, Ward 3, Soc Trang.
- Xuan Huynh 3 Hotel. Address: 34A Huynh Phan Ho, Ward 6, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang.
- Hai Yen Hotel. Address: 290 QL1A, Ward 7, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang.
- Thuan Phat Hotel. Address: 295 Phu Loi, Ward 2, Soc Trang.
10. Some other famous tourist attractions near Ong Bon Pagoda
Ong Bon Pagoda is located in the central area of Soc Trang city. The special thing is that around this area there are also many other pagodas of the Khmer and Kinh people. This is an interesting point when the 3 ethnic groups Kinh, Khmer, and Hoa live together in the same area and have cultural exchange.
If you want to learn more about the local culture, you should visit the temples. In addition, check in at unique architectural works such as Bat Pagoda, Clay Pagoda, etc. In addition, you can also visit the city’s central market or the Khmer museum. Some places to visit:
- Soc Trang city central market.
- Minh Nguyet Cu Si Lam Pagoda (Soc Trang) is 250m from Ong Bon Pagoda.
- Quan Am Linh Ung Pagoda (Buddhism 2), Hamlet 1, Soc Trang. This pagoda is 9.9 km from Bat Pagoda.
- Long Hung “One Pillar” Pagoda. Address: Dien Bien Phu, Ward 6, Soc Trang City.
- Lang Ca Pagoda. Address: Ton Duc Thang, Ward 5, Soc Trang City.
- Khmer Museum. Address: 53 Ton Duc Thang, Ward 6, Long Phu, Soc Trang City.
- Clay Pagoda (Buu Son Ky Huong). Address: 286 Ton Duc Thang, Ward 5, Soc Trang.
- Soc Do Pagoda. Address: Chau Thanh, Soc Trang City.
Ong Bon Pagoda is a unique religious architectural work of the Chinese community. If you have the opportunity to come to Soc Trang, do not forget to visit this sacred and ancient pagoda. Join Origin Vietnam – a reputable tour operator. We will accompany you on the Mekong delta tour to visit this special pagoda. This will be an extremely precious time that will make your soul much more peaceful and serene.
