Vietnam: Ben Thanh Market and Mariamman Hindu Temple, Ho Chi Minh City

Date: 24 October 2019

After arriving in Ho Chi Minh City from Phuket yesterday afternoon, I was going to begin my sightseeing today.

Dinh Phat hotel lobby Saigon — I went down to the lobby (of the hotel I was staying at) for my breakfast

Breakfast options were from a set menu list. It was pretty much a choice of Vietnamese breakfast options (noodles, noodle soup, fried rice) or Bánh Mì (Vietnamese for bread). But what bread is to Vietnamese is essentially their take on the French baguette.

Bánh Mì egg fry breakfast — Since I don’t like Asian fare for my breakfast, I stuck to Bánh Mì with omelette and sausage.

On the way out, close by was a tour agency. I inquired about a few tours and their prices were lower than what I saw quoted online.

Day tours from Ho Chi Minh costs — I booked the Mekong Delta 1 day tour. To get picked up for the tour, I merely have to step out of my hotel and just walk a few steps to this tour office.

I then walked a few metres from the hotel to Ben Thanh market, my first stop for the day.

Ben Thanh market entrance Saigon — Ben Thanh market is one of the oldest surviving markets in Sai Gon and is open daily from 6am to 6pm

Ho Chi Minh city Ben Thanh area — The Ben Thanh market junction is very busy and sees heavy traffic flow. The blue walls you see in the photo is part of the construction of Ho Chi Minh City’s metro.

After 6pm until 10pm, the Ben Thanh market area all around the building turns into a night market with plenty of street vendors selling wares and food.

Inside Ben Thanh market Ho Chi Minh City — Inside the building, despite its popularity and reputation, Ben Thanh market nowadays is mostly for tourists

Coffee at Ben Thanh market Saigon — Much of the vendors are selling goods catering to tourists, from souvenirs, clothes and products Vietnam is now famous for

Dried fruits nuts spices Ben Thanh market — Which is their coffee, spices, dried fruits, and various nuts

Cashew nuts Ben Thanh Vietnam — Most notably cashew nuts. Vietnam overtook India to becomes the world’s largest cashew nut exporter.

Which was intriguing to me as a native of Kerala. My home state is the leading producer of cashew nuts in India but I’ve been reading about the ‘threat’ from Vietnam for a while now.

Here’s a brief video report from Wall Street Journal that chronicles the Vietnamese threat to Kerala’s cashew industry — and why Kerala lags behind:

Prices vary depending on quality and size of the cashew but at Ben Thanh, I saw them range from 350,000 VND (₹1,140/$15/€13) to 480,000 VND (₹1560/$20/€18) per kilo. That’s not cheap even at the lower end and prices are slightly a few hundred rupees lesser in Kerala. But then again, you must know that that Ben Thanh is a “tourist trap” — as in, prices are way higher than market rates, and you have to bargain hard.

I had read up on prices in Ben Thanh market in advance and decided not to buy anything from here. I would end buying from Tân Định market before leaving Vietnam, and there I got a good quality cashews that were advertised at 380K, for 350K per kilo. The cashews were quite big and had a nice crunch to them. So yes, you do get good quality cashew nuts in Vietnam. Just remember to bargain.

Fruits Ben Thanh market Vietnam — You have plenty of fruit stalls at Ben Thanh too

Ben Thanh market eateries — If you get hungry, lots of eateries inside serving cooked meals and drinks

Leaving Ben Thanh market Ho Chi Minh City — I didn’t take too many photos because I shot more videos from inside the market.

Check out the video I made, at the end of this blog post. It has clips from inside Ben Thanh Market.

Vissan meat Ben Thanh market — Where I did see locals shop were at the meat sections

Vegetables Ben Thanh market Vietnam — And outside, where there are more stall selling vegetables and seafood

Crab turtles Ben Thanh market-vietnam — You can find crabs… and baby turtles? (That last bucket on the right)

I left Ben Thanh market after spending less than half-an-hour there, simply because there was nothing inside that felt new to me. I had seen such places many times throughout my tours of south east Asian countries.

I then walked towards my next ‘attraction’. Well, not really a tourist stop but a Hindu temple. I’m always curious and make a visit to Indian temples — usually Hindu temples or Gurudwaras — whenever I am abroad just to get an insight into how they manage to survive despite not having many Indians or practitioners of the faith.

Mariamman Hindu temple Saigon — Mariamman temple is the more popular Hindu temple in Ho Chi Minh City

Praying Mariamman Hindu temple Vietnam — The temple was originally built in the 19th century by Tamil traders but Mariamman temple in its current capacity was re-built in 1950

Hinduism in Vietnam — Like the rest of South East Asia, Hinduism spread throughout the region mostly due to the Chola kings, as they expanded their empire beyond India. Later Tamil traders took over the role of maintaining the Hindu faith in these parts.

History Hindu temple Ho Chi Minh City — Here’s a history from the temple itself

Mariamman temple pillars Ho Chi Minh — Mariamman temple, probably due its association with traders, has a local reputation for being a place of worship that brings you good luck and wealth to its worshipers

Sides Mariamman temple pillars Saigon — Even though goddess Mariamman is closely associated with the Hindu goddesses Parvati and Durga — neither of whom are associated with wealth (like Lakshmi is)

Praying wall Mariamman temple — Still, it doesn’t seem to deter many locals from visiting and praying here

In fact, while I was there, I did not see any other Indian inside the temple. Even the temple staff were of Khmer ethnicity or Vietnamese Hindus. A rarity in a country that is majority Buddhist.

Brahman description Hindu temple Vietnam — The temple still does its job of educating visitors about Hinduism’s various gods and has descriptions of the more ‘popular’ ones all around the temple walls

Shiva linga Mariamman Hindu Saigon — It’s not very big inside but I’d say it’s worth checking out when in Ho Chi Minh City. To non-Indians, this will feel very different from the other sights across Sai Gon.

Indian books Mariamman temple Ho Chi Minh City — They even sell some books on Mahatma Gandhi and epics like Mahabharat, translated into Vietnamese

Inside Mariamman hindu temple Vietnam — I left after a short prayer and donating some money

Mariamman temple is open daily from 7am to 7pm but closes briefly at noon. Next, I walked towards the Independence Palace and that will be the next post.