Traveling north along National Highway 3 beside the upper reaches of the Cầu River through the Chợ Mới gateway of the Việt Bắc highlands, you pass through a dramatic karst corridor where sheer limestone cliffs mirror themselves in the waters of the Tràng Cổ three-river confluence. Right at the foot of the Thông Khuông cliff beside the meeting of the rivers stands tree-shaded Thắm Temple, and just a short drive further north along the limestone ridge lies Thạch Long Cave Pagoda, an ancient monastery sheltered entirely inside a natural cavern whose entrance opens wide like a dragon's jaw.
In the religious life of communities along the upper Cầu River in former Bắc Kạn province (now part of Thái Nguyên province), Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda have long formed an inseparable pilgrimage pair following the classical principle of Buddha in front and Saints and Holy Mothers behind. One is a riverside sanctuary honoring the Three Palaces Holy Mothers, the Highland Lady and a courageous Tày female commander who defended her homeland, where archaeologists also uncovered a prehistoric burial cave nearly three thousand years old. The other is an 18th-century cave pagoda divided into the Heaven Cave and Yin Cave beneath shimmering stalactites, preserving the legend of a golden Buddha statue that traveled upstream on the Cầu River to choose its own mountain seat.
IThe legend of heroine Cô Thắm, Mother Goddess worship and the Stone Dragon Cave Pagoda
The spiritual heritage of Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda is woven from the meeting of indigenous Mother Goddess worship (Đạo Mẫu), the Tày tradition of honoring heroic guardians of the village and Northern Buddhism along the Cầu River valley. At Thắm Temple, alongside the classical pantheon of the Four Palaces, the central figure cherished in local memory is the female commander Cô Thắm (Lady Thắm), a gifted and courageous Tày woman who lived in the second half of the 19th century.
According to the sacred biography and oral traditions passed down around the Tràng Cổ river junction, Cô Thắm was born into a poor fishing family on the banks of the Cầu River. Growing up amid the rapids and forested crags of Chợ Mới, she became renowned across the valley for her gentle beauty, her moving Then singing and her skill in swimming and steering boats through mountain gorges. When a tyrannical local chieftain allied himself with marauding Black Flag bandits descending from the north to plunder the villages and sought to force her into marriage, Cô Thắm resolutely refused, crossing the river alone to take refuge in the deep forests of the Thông Khuông range. There she rallied poor farmers, woodcutters and boatmen into a righteous militia to defend the settlements along both banks of the Cầu River. During a fierce battle blocking the raiders on the Tràng Cổ river bend right beneath the mountain cliff, Commander Cô Thắm was struck by a poisoned arrow and gave her life, her body merging into the emerald waters of the confluence. Mourning her steadfast loyalty, local villagers erected a shrine on the riverside promontory where she fell, honoring her as the guardian spirit of the Chợ Mới waterways and mountain passes.
Over the generations, the shrine to Cô Thắm blended naturally into the Three Palaces and Four Palaces Mother Goddess tradition practiced by both Viet and Tày communities across the Northeast. In local belief, a maiden commander who sacrificed herself at a river confluence beneath a limestone peak embodied the sacred attributes of a Holy Maiden (Thánh Cô) of both the Highland Forest Palace and the Water Palace. Consequently, in the main hall of Thắm Temple, devotees enshrine a complete pantheon comprising Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva (Phật Bà Quan Âm), the Three Palaces Holy Mothers (First Mother of Heaven, Second Mother of the Highlands and Third Mother of Water), the Highland Lady (Chúa Thượng Ngàn), Saint Trần Hưng Đạo, the Five Mandarin Lords and the Hundred Spirits, while the dedicated Shrine of Cô Thắm and the Shrine of the Mountain God stand directly alongside to receive year-round offerings.
A short distance upstream from Thắm Temple, Thạch Long Cave Pagoda (in Sino-Vietnamese Thạch Long Tự 石龍寺, meaning Stone Dragon Pagoda, also known locally as Cao Kỳ Cave Pagoda) is bound up with a wondrous 18th-century Buddhist legend. Tradition relates that villagers once escorted a golden statue of Śākyamuni Buddha from the lowlands on a bamboo raft, poling upstream along the Cầu River to enshrine it in the mountains. When the raft carrying the Buddha statue passed the river confluence and reached the landing of Cao Kỳ commune beneath a towering limestone cliff, the raft suddenly began spinning in circles in an eddy and could not be poled forward. As night was falling, the escort party tied the raft to the bank to rest until dawn. When they awoke the next morning, the Buddha statue had vanished from the raft. Lighting incense and praying for guidance, the villagers followed a trail of fragrant smoke winding nearly three hundred meters up the mountainside, where they discovered a vast cavern shaped like a dragon's jaw, with the golden Buddha statue already seated serenely atop a natural stone pedestal inside. Convinced that the Buddha himself had chosen this sacred grotto, the villagers established a pagoda within the cave and named it Thạch Long Tự.
Because both sanctuaries lie along the National Highway 3 corridor beside the Cầu River in former Chợ Mới district and both hold major spring festivals in the first lunar month, travelers from afar sometimes conflate their locations. In fact, they are two distinct yet complementary heritage sites within a single spiritual landscape: Thắm Temple stands right at the water's edge of the river confluence in former Đồng Tâm town and Hòa Mục commune (now the border area of Chợ Mới commune and Tân Kỳ commune), centering on Mother Goddess worship and the heroine Cô Thắm, whereas Thạch Long Cave Pagoda sits high on the limestone slope in former Cao Kỳ commune (now Tân Kỳ commune), centering on Buddhist monastic worship combined with Mother Goddess shrines inside a natural karst cavern.
IIHistorical formation and the discovery of a 3,000-year-old prehistoric burial site
Set along the narrow Cầu River gorge and the ancient mandarin road linking Thái Nguyên with Bắc Kạn and Cao Bằng, the complex of Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda preserves not only 18th- and 19th-century religious history from the Lê and Nguyễn eras, but also deep archaeological strata reaching back to prehistory. Modern heritage surveys and archaeological excavations have brought these historical layers into sharp focus.
The most remarkable scientific discovery at Thắm Temple took place in 2018. In June 2018, while renovating the grounds of Thắm Temple, workers uncovered ancient pottery sherds and human skeletal remains inside a small rock shelter in the limestone cliff directly behind the shrine. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of former Bắc Kạn province immediately partnered with the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology to conduct an emergency excavation in September 2018. The excavation revealed 11 prehistoric human skeletons buried together alongside polished stone tools, cord-marked pottery fragments and shell ornaments. Archaeologists dated the burial site at Thắm Temple to nearly 3,000 years ago (spanning the Late Neolithic to Early Metal Age transition). This finding proved that the Tràng Cổ river confluence and the limestone cliff of Thắm Temple had served as a sacred habitation and burial ground for ancient inhabitants millennia before the Mother Goddess shrine was erected.
During the dynastic era, Thạch Long Cave Pagoda was established in the 18th century under the Later Lê dynasty alongside the growth of Tày riverside villages in Cao Kỳ commune, while Thắm Temple took shape in the late 19th century to venerate Commander Cô Thắm and the Holy Mothers. In the mid-20th century, the cavern of Thạch Long Pagoda passed through a period of historical upheaval before local residents restored its Buddhist altars. Recognizing the cultural and scenic value of the two sites at the southern gateway of former Bắc Kạn province, the Provincial People's Committee officially ranked Thạch Long Cave Pagoda as a Provincial Historical and Cultural Heritage Site on November 2, 2011, and ranked Thắm Temple as a Provincial Historical and Cultural Heritage Site in August 2012. Since July 1, 2025, under the National Assembly's administrative reorganization and Resolution No. 1683/NQ-UBTVQH15, the former Chợ Mới district area has been reorganized into Chợ Mới commune and Tân Kỳ commune of Thái Nguyên province.
- Nearly 3,000 years agoPrehistoric habitation and burial site at the Thắm Temple cliffLate Neolithic to Early Metal Age inhabitants selected a small rock cave on the limestone cliff overlooking the Tràng Cổ river confluence as a communal burial site for 11 individuals accompanied by stone tools, pottery and shell ornaments.
- 18th centuryFoundation of Thạch Long Cave Pagoda in Cao KỳAccording to local legend and gazetteers, villagers established a Buddhist sanctuary inside the dragon-jaw limestone cavern above the Cầu River in Cao Kỳ commune following the miraculous arrival of a golden Śākyamuni Buddha statue.
- Late 19th centuryEstablishment of Thắm Temple at the Tràng Cổ confluenceAfter the Tày female commander Cô Thắm fell heroically while defending riverside villages against Black Flag raiders on the Cầu River, residents built a shrine in her honor that expanded into Thắm Temple dedicated to the Three Palaces Holy Mothers.
- 2011Thạch Long Cave Pagoda ranked as a Provincial Heritage SiteOn November 2, 2011, the People's Committee of former Bắc Kạn province issued a decision classifying Thạch Long Cave Pagoda as a provincial historical and cultural heritage site.
- 2012Thắm Temple ranked as a Provincial Heritage SiteIn August 2012, the People's Committee of former Bắc Kạn province officially recognized Thắm Temple as a provincial historical and cultural heritage site.
- 2018Archaeological excavation uncovers 11 prehistoric skeletonsIn September 2018, the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology excavated the rock cave within the Thắm Temple compound, uncovering 11 prehistoric human skeletons and artifacts dating back nearly 3,000 years.
IIIArchitecture of the Thắm Temple compound and the Heaven and Yin Caves of Thạch Long Pagoda
The architectural appeal of Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda lies in the striking contrast between two sacred building forms of the northeastern karst highlands: open-air riverside shrines backed against a cliff at Thắm Temple, and natural cave sanctuaries carved entirely by karst geology inside a mountain at Thạch Long Pagoda.
At Thắm Temple, the compound is arranged along a narrow terrace hugging the base of the Thông Khuông cliff and looking out over the Tràng Cổ confluence. The complex comprises three principal structures: the Main Temple, the Shrine of Cô Thắm and the Shrine of the Mountain God (Miếu Sơn Thần). Built in traditional style with curved red-tile roofs and dragon-adorned ridges, the Main Temple houses tiered altars inside. The innermost sanctuary enshrines Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and the triad of the Three Palaces Holy Mothers (the First Mother of Heaven in red, the Second Mother of the Highlands in green and the Third Mother of Water in white), fronted by altars to Saint Trần Hưng Đạo, the Five Mandarin Lords, the Mandarin Officials and the Hundred Spirits. Set slightly apart on the rocky slope stand the Shrine of Cô Thắm and the Shrine of the Mountain God, where worshippers offer incense to the local Tày heroine and the tutelary spirit of the mountains.
The limestone dragon jaw and the Heaven and Yin Caves of Thạch Long Pagoda
Traveling north from Thắm Temple into Tân Kỳ commune (former Cao Kỳ commune), Thạch Long Cave Pagoda reveals a masterpiece of natural architecture at an elevation of nearly 300 meters above sea level. Requiring neither ironwood columns nor tiled roofs, the entire pagoda rests inside a vast limestone karst cavern whose arched entrance opens like the jaws of a giant stone dragon greeting the clouds, matching its Sino-Vietnamese name Thạch Long Tự. Thanks to natural ventilation shafts rising through the mountain crown, the cavern interior remains airy, dry and cool year-round, capable of accommodating thousands of pilgrims at once without feeling confined.
Following the natural topography of the cavern, early builders divided the sacred space of Thạch Long Pagoda into two distinct chambers: the Heaven Pagoda (Chùa Thiên, also called Động Thiên or the Upper Pagoda) and the Yin Pagoda (Chùa Âm, also called Động Âm or the Mother Goddess Cave). Ascending stone steps from the dragon-jaw entrance, visitors enter the Heaven Pagoda, the highest and most spacious chamber serving as the main Buddhist sanctuary. Atop natural rock ledges beneath the vaulted ceiling sit statues of the Buddhas of the Three Times, Śākyamuni Buddha, Amitābha Buddha, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and Ānanda. Overhead, hundreds of ivory-white and golden stalactites formed over millions of years hang down in wondrous shapes: some resemble meditating Buddhas, while others drape like royal canopies and jeweled curtains sheltering the Three Jewels.
From the Heaven Pagoda, a winding rock passage leads several dozen meters deeper into the mountain flank to the Yin Pagoda (Chùa Âm). Quieter, deeper and more intimate in atmosphere, this inner grotto houses altars to the Three Palaces Holy Mothers, the Highland Lady (Chúa Sơn Trang) and ancestral requiem shrines in accordance with the tradition of Buddha in front and Mother Goddess behind. The clear spatial division between the elevated Heaven Pagoda receiving sunlight near the entrance (representing Yang and the Buddha) and the deep Yin Pagoda within the mountain womb (representing Yin and the Holy Mothers) turns the Thạch Long cavern into a microcosm of harmony amid the Việt Bắc mountains.
The central curved-roof temple backed against the Thông Khuông cliff facing the three-river confluence, enshrining Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, the Three Palaces Holy Mothers, Saint Trần Hưng Đạo and the Five Mandarin Lords.
Two side shrines perched on the rocky slope within the Thắm Temple compound, dedicated to the 19th-century Tày heroine Cô Thắm and the local tutelary spirit of the forested mountains.
A small limestone cave inside the Thắm Temple grounds where the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology excavated 11 prehistoric human skeletons alongside stone tools and ancient pottery in 2018.
The lofty upper cavern immediately inside the dragon-jaw entrance at nearly 300 meters elevation, serving as the main Buddhist hall beneath canopy-like natural stalactites.
The deep, tranquil inner passage winding into the mountain flank inside Thạch Long Pagoda, housing the altars of the Three Palaces Holy Mothers and the Highland Lady amid lotus- and Buddha-shaped stalactites.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section presents the Hall of Myriad Paths library's own reading through the lens of traditional form-school feng shui based on the actual topography of the Cầu River valley in the Chợ Mới area, rather than text copied from steles or heritage dossiers. We separate historical documentation from geomantic reading clearly for the reader's reference.
Along the Cầu River corridor around coordinates 21.8931° N, 105.7872° E, both Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda occupy prime geomantic nodes along the limestone arc of the Ngân Sơn range. At Thắm Temple, the sanctuary sits directly at a meeting of two waters (lưỡng thủy giao nguyên, the confluence where the Chợ Chu / Tràng Cổ River joins the main stream of the Cầu River). In classical feng shui, a three-river junction where currents merge and flow calmly past the foot of a mountain forms a grand water bright hall (minh đường) that powerfully gathers qi. Behind the temple rises the sheer limestone wall of the Thông Khuông range as an unshakable rear backing (hậu chẩm), while flanking spurs reach toward the riverbanks to form a protective embrace of Azure Dragon on the left, White Tiger on the right. That prehistoric people nearly 3,000 years ago selected this exact cliff for burial and later generations raised a Mother Goddess temple on the same spot testifies to the enduring vitality of the node (huyệt).
Further north on the limestone slope of Cao Kỳ, Thạch Long Cave Pagoda embodies the geomantic formation of a stone cavern holding a pearl (thạch động tàng châu) or a dragon jaw holding a jewel (long hàm bảo châu). The limestone ridge running along the eastern bank of the Cầu River forms a vigorous karst dragon vein (long mạch), and the gaping cavern mouth of Thạch Long Pagoda halfway up the mountain marks the precise aperture where the mountain vein breathes forth auspicious qi. Unlike damp, closed caves, the Thạch Long cavern sits nearly 300 meters high with a broad entrance that welcomes morning sunlight and gentle breezes rising from the Cầu River valley, while natural sky vents inside keep Yin and Yang in balance so that qi circulates without scattering. Together, Thắm Temple at the mountain foot beside the water (gathering water) and Thạch Long Pagoda high inside the mountain cavern (storing mountain qi) form a rare and complete Yin-Yang pair of mountain and water in the Northeast highlands.
VThe first-lunar-month festival circuit from Thắm Temple to Thạch Long Cave Pagoda
Every spring, the pilgrimage corridor along the Cầu River through the Chợ Mới region comes alive with two consecutive traditional festivals at Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda. Opening the spring season is the Thắm Temple Festival, held annually on the 6th and 7th days of the 1st lunar month. From dawn on the 6th day, Tày, Nùng and Kinh villagers from across the region conduct a ceremonial palanquin and water procession from the Tràng Cổ river confluence up to the temple, offering incense in memory of Commander Cô Thắm and the Holy Mothers while praying for favorable weather and national peace. At night, the riverbank glows with the ritual of releasing floating lotus lanterns (hoa đăng) onto the three-river confluence, accompanied by lyrical Then singing, Tính lute music, bowl dances and folk games such as con-ball throwing, tug-of-war and stick-pushing.
Just one week after the Thắm Temple festivities, pilgrims travel north to Tân Kỳ commune (former Cao Kỳ commune) for the Thạch Long Cave Pagoda Festival, held on the 14th and 15th days of the 1st lunar month (the First Full Moon festival, or Rằm tháng Giêng). Inside the vast dragon-jaw cavern, the resonance of the temple bell and peace-prayer chanting echoing off the stalactite vaults creates a deeply moving atmosphere. Down in the valley at the foot of the mountain, the spring fair brings together ethnic communities of the upper Cầu River with local culinary stalls, glutinous rice-cake pounding contests, antiphonal folk singing and traditional sports.
| Lunar date | Festival or seasonal rite | Venue and principal ceremonies |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd day of the 1st month | Spring Opening Rite at Thắm Temple | New-year incense offerings opening the temple sanctuaries and prayers for peace and fortune at the Main Temple and the Shrine of Cô Thắm. |
| 6th to 7th day of the 1st month | Traditional Thắm Temple Festival | Palanquin processions, sacrificial rites honoring heroine Cô Thắm and the Three Palaces Holy Mothers, floating lantern release on the Cầu River confluence, Then singing and folk games. |
| 14th to 15th day of the 1st month | Thạch Long Cave Pagoda Festival (First Full Moon) | Grand peace-prayer ceremonies inside the Heaven Pagoda and Yin Pagoda caverns, offerings to the Buddha and Holy Mothers and an ethnic spring festival at the foot of the mountain. |
| 2nd day of the 4th month | Entering-Summer Rite at Thắm Temple | Three Palaces Mother Goddess rituals and chầu văn devotional performances praying for cool weather, health and crop protection at the start of summer. |
| 10th day of the 7th month & year-end | Autumn Peace Rite and Year-End Thanksgiving | Buddhist and Mother Goddess offerings and Vu Lan requiem prayers at Thạch Long Pagoda in the seventh lunar month, followed by year-end thanksgiving rites at Thắm Temple. |
The natural progression from the Thắm Temple festival in the first week of the first lunar month to the Thạch Long Cave Pagoda festival at the first full moon creates a continuous spiritual circuit along National Highway 3. Pilgrims visiting the Chợ Mới region customarily stop first at Thắm Temple beside the river confluence to pay homage to the Holy Mothers and Lady Thắm, and then continue upstream into the mountains to venerate the Buddha inside the stone dragon cavern of Thạch Long.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Xã Chợ Mới và xã Tân Kỳ (trước đây thuộc tổ 7 thị trấn Đồng Tâm, xã Hòa Mục và xã Cao Kỳ, huyện Chợ Mới, tỉnh Bắc Kạn cũ), tỉnh Thái Nguyên
- Getting there
- The heritage complex lies along National Highway 3 beside the Cầu River in Chợ Mới commune and Tân Kỳ commune (formerly Chợ Mới district, Bắc Kạn province), Thái Nguyên province. From central Thái Nguyên city, follow National Highway 3 or the Thái Nguyên - Chợ Mới Expressway north for about 40 km to reach Thắm Temple beside the Cầu River confluence, then continue north along National Highway 3 for about 15 km to former Cao Kỳ commune and turn 400 meters to the foot of Thạch Long Cave Pagoda.
- Coordinates
- 21.8931, 105.7872
When visiting Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda, please wear flat, non-slip walking shoes, as the climb up to Thạch Long Pagoda and the winding passage connecting the Heaven Cave to the Yin Cave consist of natural limestone steps that can become damp during spring drizzle. Inside the Thạch Long cavern, visitors must never break stalactites or mark the rock walls, and should light incense only at designated censers to keep the air inside the cave clear. At Thắm Temple, the river embankment in front of the shrine borders deep water at the three-river confluence, so please exercise caution when walking near the landing or releasing floating lanterns.
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VIIContribute To This Page
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?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Thắm Temple and what historical legend is tied to it
Thắm Temple honors the Three Palaces Holy Mothers, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, Saint Trần Hưng Đạo, the Five Mandarin Lords and the local heroine Commander Cô Thắm. According to tradition, Cô Thắm was a 19th-century Tày woman who defied a tyrannical chieftain, organized a local militia to defend riverside villages against Black Flag bandits and heroically gave her life at the Cầu River confluence in front of the temple.
What was the significance of the 2018 archaeological discovery at Thắm Temple
In September 2018, the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology excavated a small rock cave within the Thắm Temple compound and uncovered 11 prehistoric human skeletons alongside stone tools and ancient pottery dating back nearly 3,000 years. This discovery proved that the limestone cliff overlooking the Cầu River confluence at Thắm Temple had been a sacred habitation and burial site since prehistoric times.
Why is the ancient pagoda in Cao Kỳ named Thạch Long Pagoda
The Sino-Vietnamese name Thạch Long Tự means Stone Dragon Pagoda, inspired by the natural shape of the limestone cavern entrance halfway up the mountain at nearly 300 meters elevation, which resembles the gaping jaw of a giant dragon. The site is also tied to an 18th-century legend of a golden Śākyamuni Buddha statue that traveled upstream by raft on the Cầu River and miraculously seated itself inside this cave.
How is the interior space of Thạch Long Cave Pagoda organized
The limestone cavern of Thạch Long Pagoda is divided into two natural levels: the Heaven Pagoda (Chùa Thiên, or Upper Cave) near the wide entrance serves as the main Buddhist sanctuary beneath canopy-like stalactites, while the Yin Pagoda (Chùa Âm, or Mother Goddess Cave) winds deeper into the mountain flank to house altars to the Three Palaces Holy Mothers and the Highland Lady.
When do the festivals of Thắm Temple and Thạch Long Cave Pagoda take place
Both festivals take place consecutively in the 1st lunar month along the Cầu River pilgrimage route: the Thắm Temple Festival is held on the 6th and 7th days of the 1st lunar month with palanquin processions and floating river lanterns, followed by the Thạch Long Cave Pagoda Festival on the 14th and 15th days of the 1st lunar month (the First Full Moon).