The Story of a Magic Table in Dalat
Besides the dreamy and gentle beauty, Dalat is also famous for its mystical and somewhat idealistic stories. Indeed, from spiritual myths still passed on among the locals to objects with strange abilities, Dalat is a fairytale land to many people. If you interest in those tales, I’m going to tell you about a magic table in Dalat that I had a chance to see.
It was My First-time Seeing the Magic Table
As many visitors coming to Dalat, I had Thien Vuong Co Sat Pagoda in my bucket list of travel at that time. Yes, I always try to visit a Buddhist pagoda when traveling, so why missing one of the most sacred pagodas in Vietnam?!
The pagoda is located on a small hill. The best way that you can find and go there is by following the direction on Google Map. Just type the name into the app and the pagoda will be there for you. However, our topic here’s not about the pagoda, it’s about a magic table in Dalat, and it’s in a house at the bottom of the pagoda’s hill.
Honestly, I haven’t known about it before. Until my friend told me about a revolving table, it was when my curiousness led the trip. Yes, it was also the first time I see the table.
Where is the Table Exactly?
From the Thien Vuong Co Sat pagoda, you go down the hill. The table is in one of the houses on your left side. You can find the house that hangs a board which writes ‘BÀN XOAY Ở ĐÂY’. Inside, there is a man who is the owner of the house, and also the watchmen of the table. He will give you the instruction to interact with the magic table.
The Story about a Revolving Table in Dalat
Perhaps some people have heard about this magic table many times. Nonetheless, some half believe, and the other half doubt about the truth behind the revolving table. Because according to the instruction, you just need to put your hand on the table, call the command and the table will rotate according to what you request.
Currently, according to the people of Dalat, there are 4 revolving tables in the city, but unknown exactly the places. At first glance, the appearance of these tables is not too different from normal wooden tables.
However, if you look closely, you can see that the round face of the table is assembled with loose wood pieces instead of an intact round wooden block. Under the turntable are 2 square wooden bases paralleled through 4 circular columns to keep the table stable. The tabletop can be detached from the table legs.
The Table’s Miracle
As the owner’s introduction, this table only came to him for a few decades. Nevertheless, its real age is even a few hundred and originated from the land of martial arts, Binh Dinh province. Following the instructions, you just need to put your hands on the table and give ‘orders’: left, right, fast, slow, stop. Immediately, the table will ‘understand-human-language’ and rotate to what you expected. Because of that miracle, many visitors who come to Dalat want to see and try it once themselves. The more people join, the stronger the rotation of the table will be.
Actually, I have tried different ways to give the ‘command’. As a result, the table could rotate depending on what I have in mind, without me having to speak the words. Furthermore, I tried to control the table in a foreign language, the table rotated and stoped accurately to what I said. When I put my hands separated from the table by something, the table still moved according to what I said or thought. Evenly, it has understood my reversed orders, such as ‘not rotating left’ so it ran to the right, etc.
On the other hand, not everyone can make the table rotates. Some make the table moves right at the first touch, some have no result despite any actions. The locals often call this phenomenon in the folkway as “heavy” or “light” spiritual.
The Truth Behind the “Understanding-Human-Language” Ability of the Turntable
The Design and Structure of the Magic Table
From what I researched, the magic turntable is made depending on certain components and is not passed out. At present, the remaining tables in Dalat are all similar in structure. The only difference is in the number of pillars connecting the two bases in the table body, but must be an even number anyways.
According to folk explanations, the table is made from a jackfruit wood or an old jackfruit. The tree is grown from a place with special soil, which helps the tree to accumulate a certain type of energy of the sun. Thereby, creating such special “capable” tables.
The Participation of Scientists
Cong An Newspaper wrote about the table. 
Binh Dinh Administration of Tourism told about the magic table in English. 
The table was mentioned on Cong An Newspaper’s first page in 2015. 
Binh Dinh Administration of Tourism told about the magic table in Vietnamese.
However, it seems that scientists are not really satisfied with that explanation. As a result, many scientists have come to Dalat to find out that strange operating principles.
After many trips and experiments, scientists have found the answer. As an explanation, Dalat’s revolving table is due to the force exerted on the table, creating torque. But most importantly, what mechanical force is responsible for the torque to the table?
Based on the analysis, when people put their hands on the table, continuously reciting “spell” to the magic table, their psychology also develops a hint of autism and gradually falls into the illusion: it seems that the table is spinning, so people will tend to unconsciously depend on the direction of the rotation they convention in mind.
And when you follow this, the force you exert on the table tends to increase as well. So on, the table keeps spinning faster and faster. Not to mention, there are times when someone also acts “push” more for the turntable. The same applies to the stopping principle.
In Conclusion
Although the truth about the Dalat magic table has been clarified, those who visit the land want to see and feel it once with their own eyes. As one of the Asian Proverb’s travel quotes says: “It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”; so, do you believe in the magic table in Dalat?
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Khoi Nguyen
Khoi Nguyen builds The Broad Life with a desire to inspire people go exploring the world and live a more interesting, experience, and adventurous life. This blog shares the stories, pictures, and experiences at destinations where he has traveled to.
30 Comments
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Khoi Nguyen
Really? In my country Ouija is something heavily spiritual.
Evenly, you have to worship before interacting with an Ouija board.
OMG I’m scared of that!
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Matt Taylor
Seeing is believing! haha. I have never heard of the magic table before. That would be totally fun to see it someday. I will have to put Dalat on my bucket list.
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Khoi Nguyen
I’m surprised when you see it fun haha.
Please tell me your experience with the table when you’re there.
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Khoi Nguyen
You’re welcome!
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Khoi Nguyen
Will you interact with the magic table if you have a chance?
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Gervin Khan
Wow, this is an interesting topic! It’s amazing how science explain the reason behind it but at the same time it also ruined the fun, lol. But I would love to see that magic table in person!
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Kingsley
A wonderful piece of art and craft that is capable of illusion. I am still sitting here wondering how the human mind can be manipulative to achieve so much
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Khoi Nguyen
Wonderful piece of art and craft might help a little bit in this case, I think of more than that, but I get your point. Thanks for commenting!
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Khoi Nguyen
It makes the life more colorful, doesn’t it? Haha
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More Income, Better Lifestyle
The world is full of wonders. I will check out this table the next time I’m in the area for sure!
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Khoi Nguyen
And please get back to this post and tell me your experience with the table!
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Ana
Wow! I can never even imagine something like this but the way you’ve described your experience with Magic Table, it sounds so real. I’d love to check it out someday!
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Khoi Nguyen
You’re seemed so excited with the magic table, aren’t you?
I’m sure you will find it even extremely interesting when interacting with that.
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Marie
This is pretty awesome. I love stories like this. And it would be fun to see in person.
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Khoi Nguyen
Definitely it will be fun!
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Alexis
What an interesting story, I love the history behind this table.
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Khoi Nguyen
Yeah it is, thanks for your comment!
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Brianna
This is so neat!! I would love to see this someday. What a story!
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Khoi Nguyen
It’s in Dalat and waiting for you to experience 😉
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Lucy Clarke
Although this has been debunked, it’s still great to learn about this magic table. Reading through its account is completely engrossing.
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Khoi Nguyen
Even it’s debunked, it may not be correct at all.
It’s better that you experience it yourself.
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Hazel Salcedo
I never heard of a rotating magic table! I would have been skeptical though. Haha! But it makes for a great experience seeing it with your own eyes for sure! 🙂
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Khoi Nguyen
Absolutely! See and interacting with it yourself will make your life experience going to another level haha.
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emman damian
This is the first time I hear about Dalat, Vietnam. That magic table has been debunked but still found it interesting to know the story.
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Khoi Nguyen
I don’t even believe on what debunked but definitely it was a good experience to try and explore. You should go there too!
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Ben
This sounds a lot like what happens when people use Ouija boards. They don’t realize they’re moving it, even though they are.