History of Ba Den Mountain in Tay Ninh
a place with many famous ancient legends
Introduction to Ba Den Mountain
Located about 11km from the center, Ba Den Mountain is a famous landmark in Thanh Tan commune, Tay Ninh city. Along with Heo Mountain and Phung Mountain, Ba Den Mountain is one of the three main mountains that make up Ba Mountain with an area of about 24km2.
With a height of 986m above sea level, Ba Den is known as the highest mountain peak in the Southeast, worthy of the title "First Heavenly Mountain". This is essentially a volcano that has been extinct since the Holocene, about 11,700 years ago.
At Mount Ba, visitors can visit a system of extremely unique temples, including: Trung Pagoda, Ba Pagoda and Hang Pagoda. Besides, the unique legend of Ly Thi Thien Huong (also known as Ba Den) is also an attractive feature when mentioning this place.
History of Ba Den Mountain
According to Gia Dinh Thanh Thong Chi, Ba Den Mountain's original name is Ba Dinh. Local village elders often call this place Mount Mot. It wasn't until the mid-50s of the 18th century that the name Ba Dinh mountain appeared, and then many people incorrectly called it Ba Den mountain as it is now.
There are many different legends about the history of Ba Den Mountain, of which three extremely famous stories are still passed down by folk to this day.The story goes that Ly Thi Thien Huong (Ba Den's real name) was the daughter of Ly Thien - the governor of Trang Bang under the Nguyen Dynasty. Her mother is Mrs.
Dang Ngoc Phung, a native of Binh Dinh but moved to Trang Bang to start a business a long time ago.In the village where Thien Huong lived, there was a young man named Le Si Triet. Although he was good at literature and martial arts, he was unfortunately an orphan.
One time, when Thien Huong went up the mountain to burn incense and worship Buddha, she encountered a group of extremely aggressive thugs who came to capture her. At that moment, Si Triet rushed forward, he defeated the followers and freed Thien Huong by a hair's breadth. To thank the young man for his rescue efforts, Thien Huong's parents promised to marry their daughter to the hero Le. Yet before the wedding could take place, Si Triet was called to join the army to fight Tay Son.
While going up the mountain to worship at a pagoda, Thien Huong was surrounded by bad guys and attempted to rape her. To maintain her loyalty, Thien Huong had no choice but to commit suicide into a nearby ravine.
After dying, the poor girl became a saint and told the abbot of the mountain temple in a dream. The story goes that Thien Huong appeared in her dream as a woman with a strange, black face. Since then, people called her Ba Den to show respect.
