Ta Kon Citadel has a mysterious origin.

For centuries now, it has been known to be just always have existed in the ancient forest of Vinh Son Commune, Vihn Thanh District. Even up to this day, it's a perennial question how a citadel 20 metersry. high and almost one kilometer long could have been built with only giant stones of different shapes that even looked like they were only piled up on top of the other. Since Ta Kon means “piled up” in the Ba Na ethnic language, this only seems to verify the century-old mystery.

Ta Kon's unique structure and remote location amplifies the wonder and interest in the citadel. Many stories have been developed in an attempt to answer the many questions surrounding the mysterious structure. According to a Ba Na legend, Ta Kon was built by the Mountain God and his wife, a beautiful Ba Na woman named Ho Bia. Before he could marry her, he had to overcome three challenges established by Ho Bia herself.

Another story has it that Ta Kon Citadel was built by the Kon Blo villagers as ordered by their kings, brothers Tram and Trum. They had a sister named Bia Toni. The way to the citadel itself is said to have been the road Ba Na ancestors travelled through themselves to transport the stones and other materials used to build the structure. But instead of walking to the construction site which they were not allowed to do, they could only swing with a hudred-meter long pole from Kon Hray Mountain to Tru Stream and Van Len, where the tools were. The tools were said to have been made from special stones given by the brother kings, sharp enough to cut stones easily.

The most realistic tale about the origin of Ta Kon Citadel is the one about the structure to have been built by the Ba Na people and three brothers Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Lu, and Nguyen Hue. They were known to be rebels in the 18th century who fought a violent civil war against the Trinh in North Vietnam. Proof of this story may be the various relics related to the Tay Son Rebellion from 1771-1802. Among these are the Nguyen Hue orange garden and the Ong Binh and Ong Nhac hills.

Dinh Ba Hoa, director of the Binh Dinh Museum, doesn't believe that such an almost perfect structure could have been built by humans. He stated that Ta Kon Citadel looks “almost natural,” impossible to have been made by human hands.

Such is the power Ta Kon Citadel holds that its origin is a big mystery even up to this day. Binh Dinh Museum and local agencies are exerting enough effort for the extraordinary structure to be hailed as a relic.