Ben Duoc Memorial Temple

Ben Duoc, Phu My Hung, Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City 700000 Vietnam

Now Closed

Description

The Ben Duoc Memorial Temple (Ben Duoc – Cu Chi) is a cultural history initiative of the Ho Chi Minh City Communist Party Committee and the people of Vietnam. It was created to honor the soldiers and civilians who were killed in the Saigon-Gia Dinh region during the anti-American and anti-French combat. The temple is located at the end of the Cu Chi tunnels in the Ben Duoc hamlet of Phu My Hung village.

The first stage of the Memorial Monument was unveiled on December 19, 1975, to welcome numerous groups of people from inside and outside Vietnam to come to commemorate, burn incense, and reflect. The Party’s City Committee, the People’s Council, and the Vietnamese Fatherland Front picked December 19 as the annual memorial day to remember and thank the dead. The temple’s construction began on May 19, 1993, the 103rd birthday of President Ho Chi Minh. It is situated on a 7-hectare site within the Cu Chi tunnels historical landmark compound.

The Ben Duc Memorial Temple, located at the end of the Cu Chi Tunnels, is a cultural history property in Ho Chi Minh City. It was created to honor the sacrifices of soldiers and civilians died in the Saigon-Gia Dinh region during the struggle against America and France. Architects, builders, and others accepted the challenge of creating a harmonious and sustainable architectural complex that expresses Vietnamese cultural identity in a way that is as subtle and gentle as the Vietnamese spirit.

Architecture

Three-door temple gate

The three-door temple gate is designed in the country’s traditional style, with a line of round pillars and yin and yang tiling. The gate is created using innovative materials and has the curved forms and patterns of a rural entrance. The signboard “Ben Duoc Memorial Temple” stands in the center of the three-door temple gate, and parallel sentences of the poet Bao Dinh Giang are written on the body of the pillars.

The inscription house

The inscription house is a square, double-tiled structure. A stone tablet 3m high, 1.7m broad, and 0.25m thick, weighing 3.07 tons, stands in the center. This stone tablet is made from a single block of 18-ton stone from Ngu Hanh Son (Da Nang) and is carved by artists with various patterns unique to the country.

The writing engraved on the stone tablet is named “Eternally remember” and was chosen from a contest of 217 submissions from 29 provinces and cities.

The main temple

The architecture is solemn and calm, reminiscent of Vietnam’s old temples.

The worship temple is organized in the shape of a U: in the center is the country altar, in the middle is the statue of Ho Chi Minh, and on the top is written: “For the sake of the country, we must forge ourselves. Always remember.” There are two incense tables on the left and right to memorialize our ancestors, people, and unknown soldiers. Along the left wall are the names of slain Party soldiers, and along the right wall are the names of dead armed forces troops.

The names of fallen troops are engraved in golden lettering into a granite stone tablet. The temple contains the names of 44,520 “revolutionary martyrs,” including Vietnamese mothers, “heroes,” and “revolutionary martyrs,” as well as 9,322 “revolutionary martyrs” from other provinces and towns.

Outside the main temple wall, there are three monumental pictures created of china by the University of Fine Arts, demonstrating the content: People recover territory in order to build a country. To provide strength in the face of invaders; People who have been oppressed stand up to fight for triumph.

People routinely visit the memorial in search of the names of relatives and colleagues. The temple management board can provide them with information on the burial locations and other details of deceased soldiers.

The tower

The tower represents the ascension to the zenith of future fame.

The tower has nine stories and stands 39 meters tall. Many designs depict the life and struggle of the Cu Chi people – “an iron bulwark country of revolution” – on the tower’s wall. On the highest floor of the tower, we can observe a portion of the revolution base, from which some locations have entered the Iron Triangle (Iron Triangle) region’s history.

Flower garden

From a war-ravaged region full with craters, the Temple now has a year-round floral garden with various types of beautiful trees provided as keepsakes by craftsmen and groups. Notably, authorities from the Central, City, and Provincial levels have planted a variety of valuable trees in the flower garden in front of the Temple.

The flower garden behind the Temple is a sign of the country’s spirit. It stands 16 meters tall and weighs 243 tons. The emblem is located in the center of the floral garden, facing the Saigon River. It is symbolized by a teardrop, which represents the sorrow and grief of many generations of Vietnamese people who battled to keep their nation. The entire emblem depicts a lotus blossom being caressed by a hand, prompting visitors to recall lines from two folk ballads.

Carvings representing Vietnamese historical events from the time of the country’s creation by Hùng Vng through independence day on April 30, 1975 may be found on the body of the emblem.

Basement

The temple’s basement contains nine rooms dedicated to the subject of Saigon Cho Lon, robust and invincible, depicting major war events involving our people and soldiers in the Iron Triangle (Tam Giác Sắt) region in particular and Vietnam in general. They intended to demonstrate against the empire’s and its allies’ wars. Those events are brought back to life through magnificent paintings, statues, sand tables, stage models, and sculptures. Each space represents a distinct historical era.