Cao Daism is a religion unique to Southern Vietnam, established in the early 1920's, & officially codified in 1926. The functioning center of Cao Daism is located in the Tay Ninh province, border to Cambordia.
Cao Dai is an attempt to create a perfect synthesis of world religions, a combination of Christianity, Buddhism , Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism, Geniism, and Taoism. Cao Dai literally means high tower or palace, a metaphor for the spender of spiritual growth.
These faiths are represented in Cao Dai theology through such concepts as reincarnation, vegetarianism and yin and yang and also on the Cao Dai banner - a tri-colour with one colour for each religion.
Services at the temple, held daily at noon, 6 pm, midnight and 6 am, offer another glimpse of this East-meets-West eclecticism. An orchestra of 10 musicians and a choir of 20 youths lead the congregation in prayer. The hymns are much closer to Christian spirituals than traditional Buddhist or Taoist chanting, but the music is unmistakably Vietnamese. The mix, neither wholly Vietnamese nor wholly Western, is both very exotic and incredibly spiritual. During the forty-minute prayer session, a Cao Dai follower explains, the presence of God comes into the chapel and gazes out at the congregation through the Divine Eye.
Worshippers are separated by gender - men on the right and women on the left. In contrast to the vivid colours of the temple, lay followers and women wear pure white.
Men with the rank of priest and higher are robed in solid colours depending on their spiritual allegiance within Caodaism: yellow (symbolizing Buddhism and virtue), blue (Taoism and pacifism) or red (Confucianism and authority). Bishops and cardinals also have an eye emblazoned on their headpieces.
This was taken during one of their prayer sessions where all the Devotees gathered.