Dress at temples

You push open a worn wooden gate, and the din of the street cuts off at once. Before you: a paved courtyard, an old banyan tree, bluish coils of incense rising and trembling toward a roof with upturned corners. Worshippers, barefoot, press their palms together and bow before a gilded statue. Here, people lower their voices without anyone asking. To enter a Vietnamese place of worship — a pagoda, a temple, a village shrine — is to cross an invisible threshold where a few simple rules of dress and behavior make all the difference between the respectful visitor and the one who, without meaning to, disturbs. These rules are not petty hassles: they express respect, and respect, here, is offered first with the body.

Covering up: the first mark of respect

The most visible rule concerns dress. In a sacred place, you cover your shoulders and your knees. Tank tops, bare backs, short shorts, and miniskirts should be left at the hotel. The ideal is a top that covers the arms to at least the shoulder, and a bottom — trousers, a long skirt — that falls below the knee. Some very busy sites lend a cape or sarong at the entrance to cover bare legs or shoulders, but it is better not to count on it and to arrive already properly dressed.

To this attire, add two essential gestures of the body:

• Remove your hat (nón or mũ). You do not keep a head covering, nor sunglasses, before the altar or the statues.
• Take off your shoes before entering the prayer halls and stepping onto sacred platforms. You will see a line of sandals and flip-flops at the foot of the steps: the sign that one enters barefoot. Step over the raised threshold (bậc cửa) without treading on it — the wooden sill is to be respected.

The general spirit: make yourself plain, clean, discreet. Careful dress honors the place and those who pray there.

Pagoda or temple? Chùa, đền, miếu

People often say "temple" in English for everything, but Vietnamese distinguishes several places, and knowing how to name them is already to understand better what you are visiting.

• The chùa ("choo-a") is the Buddhist pagoda, dedicated to the Buddha (Phật, "fut") and the bodhisattvas. It is a place of prayer and meditation, often home to monks and nuns in brown or saffron robes. People go there to pray for peace, compassion, serenity.
• The đền ("den") is a temple dedicated to a hero, a king, a spirit, or a tutelary deity — for example the temples to the Hùng kings, legendary ancestors of the nation, or to generals who became protector gods.
• The miếu ("mee-oh") is a smaller shrine, often of a village or neighborhood, devoted to a local spirit, an earth genie, a venerated figure.
• The đình ("ding"), finally, is the village communal house, at once a place of worship for the tutelary spirit (thành hoàng) and the heart of collective life.

Many Vietnamese live their spirituality flexibly, blending Buddhism, ancestor worship, Taoism, and folk beliefs. One may pray to the Buddha at the pagoda in the morning and honor a spirit at the temple in the afternoon, seeing no contradiction. This tolerance pervades the atmosphere: these places are peaceful, open, welcoming — provided you enter with the proper regard.

Incense, offerings, and gestures of devotion

At the heart of the visit is incense. The sticks — hương in the North, nhang in the South ("huh-uhng," "nyang") — are the sensory soul of these places: their smoke carries prayers toward heaven and toward the ancestors. You light one or three — an odd number, often three, symbol of the three worlds or the threefold homage — hold them between joined palms at the height of your forehead, bow, then go to plant them in the great censer (lư hương) before the altar. (Note the contrast with the dining table: here, and only here, are sticks standing upright in a pot not only allowed but expected.)

Before the altar, people set out offerings (lễ vật): fruit, flowers, cakes, tea, sometimes votive notes. These gifts are not "paid" like a service; they express gratitude and a request for a favor — health, success in exams, a child, prosperity. The gesture of prayer itself is simple: palms together (chắp tay), you bow, sometimes kneel and prostrate yourself (lạy) before the statue. There is no need to imitate it perfectly; a sincere bow, palms joined, is more than enough for the foreign visitor.

A few extra attentions make the good visitor:

• Speak softly, or stay silent. Loud voices and boisterous laughter have no place here.
• Do not pointedly turn your back on the main altar, and do not point at the statues with a finger or a foot. The foot, in Vietnamese culture, is the low and impure part of the body: never aim your soles at a statue or altar, and do not rest your feet on sacred objects.
• Photograph tactfully: many places tolerate photos in the courtyards, but not before certain altars or statues. Look for signs, ask with a glance, turn off the flash.
• Walk around worshippers at prayer discreetly rather than passing in front of them.

Giving, the merit box, and the right measure

Making a donation (công đức, "kong duc," literally "merit") is part of the visit for many Vietnamese. People slip a few notes into the box set out for this, the hòm công đức, for the upkeep of the place and the making of good karma. It is a free and personal gesture; no amount is imposed, and the foreign visitor is never obliged to give. If you do, a small note placed discreetly in the box is perfect — avoid laying money directly on the altars or in the hands of statues, and beware of overly insistent solicitations around very touristy sites.

A word on the atmosphere of certain great festivals: during famous pilgrimages, like that of the Perfume Pagoda (Chùa Hương) in spring, these usually meditative places fill with an immense, joyful crowd. The spirit stays the same — respect, incense, offerings — but the throng calls for patience and good humor. Here again, keeping your calm and your smile is the best attire of all.

Entering, standing, greeting

Beyond dress, it is a whole way of carrying yourself that makes the respectful visitor. At the entrance to a prayer hall, many shrines have two side doors and a central one: the latter is often reserved, symbolically, for the deities or dignitaries; the ordinary visitor enters by the side instead. Once inside, you move unhurriedly, you do not pointedly turn your back on the main statue, and you bow slightly, palms joined, as a greeting — even without praying.

Before monks or nuns, a slight nod of the head, palms joined, together with an A Di Đà Phật ("ah zee da fut," a Buddhist formula of greeting and blessing), is appreciated. You do not touch them, you do not photograph them without a questioning glance. You keep a decent posture: you do not sit with your legs stretched toward the altar, you do not lie down, you do not eat within the sacred grounds. These bodily courtesies, discreet but constant, say better than words that you have understood where you are treading: a place where silence, smoke, and respect have woven, for centuries, the same peace.

Do and don't at a place of worship

Here is the memo to carry before pushing open the gate of a chùa or a đền.

• Do: cover shoulders and knees, dress plainly.
• Don't: wear a tank top, short shorts, or beachwear.
• Do: remove your hat and sunglasses, take off your shoes at prayer halls.
• Don't: step on the raised threshold, keep your shoes on the platform.
• Do: speak quietly, fall silent near those praying.
• Don't: laugh loudly, take phone calls, make noise.
• Do: light an odd number of incense sticks, bow with palms joined.
• Don't: point at statues and altars with a finger or foot.
• Do: ask before photographing, turn off the flash.
• Don't: aim the soles of your feet at the altar, sit with legs stretched toward it.
• Do, if you feel moved: a small discreet donation in the box (công đức).

To enter a Vietnamese place of worship with this regard is to receive something rare in return: the feeling of being welcomed into a space of peace centuries old, where incense smoke links, as it always has, the living, the ancestors, and the sky.

Vietnamese to remember

• chùa (choo-a) — the Buddhist pagoda
• đền (den) — the temple (dedicated to a hero, king, or spirit)
• miếu (mee-oh) — the small shrine, often of a village
• đình (ding) — the communal house and its tutelary worship
• Phật (fut) — the Buddha
• hương / nhang (huh-uhng / nyang) — incense sticks
• lư hương (luh huh-uhng) — the large censer before the altar
• chắp tay (chap tie) — to join the hands in prayer
• lạy (lie) — to bow, to prostrate oneself
• lễ vật (leh vut) — the offerings laid on the altar
• công đức (kong duc) — the meritorious donation, alms to the place of worship
• nón / mũ (nawn / moo) — the hat (to be removed)