On the 2nd day of her journey to Dien Bien, Pham Tuyet Nhi (22 years old, student of Hanoi University of Culture) could not hide her emotion when she set foot at the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield Martyrs' Temple (the temple).
Nhi shared: "In recent days, I have been to the Victory Museum, some places are far away, and today I have the opportunity to go to A1 and Temple on Hill F, I am very touched by the atmosphere here, and more impressed by the beautiful and meaningful architecture".
The temple is built on hill F, belonging to the Dien Bien Phu Special National Relic Complex.
The project started construction on March 13, 2021, on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the opening of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign and was inaugurated in May 2022 to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory.
Hill F is one of the eastern highlands of the Dien Bien Phu Fortress Group, along with Hill A1 forming an important defense line to protect the French Army Command Headquarters.
This is also the place where the fiercest battles in the campaign took place. Before starting construction, the construction unit also discovered nearly ten more martyrs' graves who sacrificed in this area.
The project was designed by architect Pham Trung Hieu with the view of creating a common memorial space for heroic martyrs, regardless of the architecture of any religion.
The overall is arranged into three spaces including the entrance, memorial and main temple, connected by transitional paths, creating an emotional journey from modern life to spiritual space.
According to the designer, the highlight of the project is the semi-circular memorial lake symbolizing the soldier's eyes towards the sky.
At night, 56 clusters of lights under the lake form a five-pointed star, symbolizing the 56 days and nights of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign and the great sacrifices that made the historic victory.
Many architectural details have symbolic meaning such as 19 red ban trees representing 19 ethnic groups in Dien Bien province, 54 white ban trees symbolizing 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups, and a tunnel with 9 light boxes reminiscent of 9 years of resistance against French colonialism.
After more than three years of use, the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield Martyrs Temple has become a destination for a large number of people and tourists when returning to the historical land.
The project is not only a place to offer incense and commemorate heroic martyrs but also contributes to educating patriotism, spreading the morality of "When drinking water, remember the source" of the nation.
