Visiting a Temple of Mediums in Hue, Vietnam and an Explanation of What Caodaism Is

Once upon a time, God the Father divided himself into pieces and sent them to Earth, and they became mediums. That's how the story of Caodaism starts. Two waves of religions preceded the third when a group of Vietnamese mediums established a new religion called Caodaism (wiki) uniting the whole spiritual experience of the past. It happened in 1926 in Vietnam, not far from Saigon.

No surprise, it was established in Vietnam: communication with spirits is part of Vietnamese culture. Read my post Full Moon Offerings to the Deceased, Cúng Rằm Tradition how this is expressed in the everyday life of the Vietnamese. At the beginning of the 20th century, Vietnam also was a unique place where European concepts (Latin script, Catholicism, Marxism, etc) met and mixed with the local cultural background. In the same way, European spiritism met Taoist mediumship and Asian divination in Vietnam, and that's what Caodaism was born out of.

Nowadays, Caodaism has more than 5 million followers in Vietnam and across the world.

Mediums keep managing this religion; they connect to the Divine, spirits of prophets and prominent people, and convey their messages to the rest. Caodaists say the time has come when God talks to humanity directly.

That's a curious concept to my taste so I don't miss an opportunity to see another Caodaist temple. I saw one in Saigon and Da Nang, and recently discovered Cao Dai Temple of Vinh Loi in Hue (Thánh Thất Vĩnh Lợi).

This one:

Caodaist temples have their own style. The shape probably comes from the French-built Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon with two symmetrical towers. As for the colors, they resemble local Buddhist temples.

Another element is a long flag in front of the temple, resembling a dragon, with the Divine Eye on it.

On the main gate, I found an announcement "Please, enter the temple through the side door". Soon, I came across a young man wearing a Caodaist garment who told me in English: "Please come, watch everything, don't worry". However, I had shorts on me while a sign was asking for appropriate clothes so I decided to come back the next day.

Keep exploring the temple:

Such ceremonial vehicles are another tradition of Cao Dai.

Someone would say: That's clearly Chinese. Right, but Caodaism doesn't make a secret out of its intention to fuse religious traditions. Moreover, it's the main goal of it.

At the entrance to the temple, I found two announcements. One of them said: Please, wear respectful clothes. This time, I had jeans in my backpack and put on them right on my light boxer-like shorts. Another sign explained that two sexes must follow different sides and staircases.

I climbed the staircase to visit the front balcony on the second floor.

That's the entrance to the ceremonial hall.

Wood carving, great work.

And that's above the entrance:

This is the central part of the facade, between the two towers, with the Divine Eyes, the symbol of Caodaism.

I found the explanation on a stand inside the temple:

The Eye is a universally potent symbol of the Divine. For each Caodaist the eye represents our spiritual heart. Thus emanating from the eye is the light of the universe. This light is our spirit, a part of God.

And that's the ceremonial hall:

I knew I could walk on the right side but what about the center?.. I worried I could break some rules but there was nobody there, only me alone so I took this risk in the sake of photography.

Closer to the altar, with a 50mm lens:

Gorgeous decoration, isn't it? Now closer, with a 24mm lens:

You see, I had time to change lenses, nobody hurried me, nobody was watching me. Grateful for that.

Beautiful ritual objects.

Let's look at the ceiling:

And that's the opposite side of the hall:

Behind this altar, I found a garment, probably, a priest's clothes for ceremonies:

There, I also found this mural:

This is a copy of famous Caodaist painting depicting the three Venerable Saints signing a contract between Heaven and Earth. The text is "God and humanity [for] love and justice".

From left to right: Sun Yat-sen, Victor Hugo, and Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm.

I also was a good visitor and took a look at posters hanging here and there in the temple, to learn more about Caodaism.

Quoting one of them:

Caodaists worship God the Father (representing by the Divine Eye), the Universal Mother and the Divine Beings, particularly Sakyamuni, Lao Tse, Confucius, Jesus Christ, with all their heart. They also venerate the great religious prophets of history and honour of ancestors.

It means they indeed united the prophets of the world religions and, moreover, mixed them with the Buddhist karma/reincarnation concept: one of the posters said that Caodaists who want to devote themselves for higher spiritual practices can "break through the cycles of reincarnation and be united with the Divine".

Exciting, itsn't it?

I went down to the first floor and discovered an area for more mundane activities. Not many people I met there, only a couple of them, quickly coming and going, and I didn't mind - I needed to have time with myself that day, I needed a solitude, and I found it in this marvelous temple.

More stories from Southeast Asia will follow! Check out my previous posts on my personal Travelfeed or Worldmappin map.

I took these images with a Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D and a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on November 1, 2, in Hue, Vietnam.