I have a tradition of visiting a cemetery in every country I visit, sometimes multiple. Finding one here was a challenge, for when I google or search maps, multiple places pin point, however they are not actual cemeteries. I lucked out and found one, and spent a morning visiting a unique cemetery in Hue City.
Name
I cannot tell you what this cemetery is called unfortunately. The characters on google maps are all in Chinese? There is a Buddhist temple on site and I will provide the google pin here.
I walked from the city; it is just past Tu Dam Pagoda. One will know they are getting close, as you begin to see graves at the side of the street, in businesses front entrance and in the yards of homes.
Did you know that in Vietnam, you can bury your loved ones on your property?
The Temple
Gorgeous and serene, covered in bright yellow and red and resplendent with dragons and decorative murals.
A friendly monk came out to speak and let me know the graveyard was that of only males and all were Buddhists.
The Graves
Absolutely intriguing. I have yet to find any information on these styles of headstones, burial spaces and forms.
First utterly unique style I noticed were the round low domes. I don’t know what is inside these, if they are whole body or cremation remains, but they are not that large. Many have incense placed in the middle, a single stick.
Second were a similar idea but with a decorative lotus flower shape to the rim and filled with white stones. Some of these were massive and others quite small.
Third were the open headstones, or ones with a wing panel on either side leading to a central altar space. These are huge and were cascading down a hill side behind the temple. The jungle and vegetation had grown over a lot of this area and I was unable to access this entire section.
Fourth were the tower type graves. These are all located at one side of the temple in a cluster.
The Cemetery
I must say I was in awe walking around this cemetery. It was so very different than any other I have visited. Two grounds workers were busy repairing a path but other than that, there was no one else around.
I would guesstimate that 80 percent of the property is inaccessible due to vegetation overgrowth. Most of the graves looked unadorned, so perhaps not visited regularly by family, or at least not having flowers and items placed on them.
I will undoubtedly read up on Buddhist cemeteries in Vietnam and try to add any information I can garner to this post. Most often Buddhists are cremated and their ashes scattered, so I feel lucky even finding this huge cemetery.
