Huong Son is a place of many relics and scenic beauty including caves, temples covered by verdant vegetation which belongs to My Duc district, Ha Tay province. Despite the destruction of time, Huong Son keeps its whole evergreen beauty. And that's the reason why getting there, everyone can find its nobleness and ancientness which is a national specification. Among these many landscapes of Huong Son, Huong Tich cavern is one of the most beautiful.
Beautiful scenery of Huong Son
According to a Budhism anecdote, this was where the goddess of mercy led her religious life and reached the peak fo his way. She reincarnated to the life of Dieu Thien one of the princesses of Dieu Trang Vuong King in Hung Lam kingdom and began religious life lasting 9 years in Huong Tich cavern. After reaching the peak of her way, she came back to the kingdom to cure her father disease and helped settling down the country situations.
When this anecdote spread everywhere, Buddhist priests including there of Le Thanh Tong dynasty came and found this carvern then finally setting up Huong Tich cottage which has been called the inner pagoda, and Thien Tru cottage called the external one. And they were called the Perfume Pagoda altogether. In Vietnamese ,"Huong Tich" means the fragrant vestige left by Budhisattva Avalokitesvara when she lived here and "Thien Tru" means the cooker heading to the sky. Therefore , to go on a pilgrim to Huong Pagoda generally means that to pay a visit to both places Huong Tich , Thien Tru in Huong Son mountainous area which was mentioned above. Thank to that meanings, Huong Pagoda is always one of the northen tourism hubs which attracts vietnamese and foreign tourists the most. Every year, thousand of visitors come here to worship and enjoy the landscape.
Whenever you get there, you can be proud of being in the land of Buddhism and watching with your own eyes one of country wonders. Floating along the river in a small boat, you will pass by vertical mountain edges which stretch away to the horizon, visisting the Thien Tru valley. According to some latest document, when the king Le Thanh Tong went to inspect his viceroys the second time in 1467, he and his troops stopped here for a rest. Realized that it was right below the Thien Tru star, the valley was named after it. Then in 1770 in the Trinh Lord royal progress, he had the door cave carved with the word " the most beautiful cavern in the South" as well as some other poems. After some time being founded and operated by the three Buddhist Priest, Huong Pagoda was left fallow for a period of time.
In1686- the seventh reign's year of king Le Hy Tong, a Buddhist monk whose name was Tran Dao Vien Quang took over this pagoda. At that time, it was a rumor that he had been a madarin who resigned and then began his religious life. From that time to the 20th century, Perfum Pagoda had been took over by many generations and became a gorgeous castle with hundred of sophisticated architectural rooves. Unfortunately, because of wars, it was destructed three times in 1947,1948 and 1950. As the result, Thien Tru cottage has almost dissapeared , and its remains includes Vien Cong- a terra cotta sculptural work of the 18th century and Thien Thuy Stupa.
On the right hand side of Thien Tru is Tien Son cavern where five white-stone statues stand beside a stele on which carved a poem by the Trinh Lord. There are many stalacities hanging inside the cavern and they can sound like the bell and drum-beat whenever they are knocked on. Leaving Tien pagoda we can see the " Giai Oan" pagoda on the left which includes the Phat Tich hermitage, Tuyet Kinh cave and the pure and neverdrying Thien Trinh well which was sad to be where Budhisattva Avalokitesvara bathed before getting into Buddhist sanctuary. Following the rough gravel path, we will reach the Cua Vong Temple used as a place to worship the Forest Goddess who was said to manage the whole jungle of Huong Son. This was also where many virgins whose duty is to transfer information between Thien Tru and Huong Tich cavern lives.
Huong Tich cavern which is the most outstanding sightseeing of Huong Son locates right next to Tran Song temple. The cavern is in the shape of huge dragon opening wide his mouth. There is a great deal of odd-shaped stalactities which stand for simple objects of daily life in Vietnamese countryside such as heaps of rice, cocoons, pigpen, buffalo cage, ponds full of water-fern,... inside the cavern. Among things inside the cave, the green stone statue of th Buddhisattva Kwan Yin made under Tay Son dynasty is of the greatest value.
Moreover , there are many other caves and pagodas to the south of Huong Tich such as Thanh Son- Huong Dai, Long Van- Tuyet Son. It can take you almost three days to visit all of them and enjoy their unique beauty.
On May the 19th in 1958, it was a great honor for Huong Son when the President Ho Chi Minh paid a visit to it. He said to Huong Son citizens: " We should place a high value on the nature and develop Huong Son to be famous and beatiful landscape which can attract vistors at home and abroad.". It also was visited by many famous politicians like Pham Van Dong- the former prime minister, Le Kha Phieu- the general secretary, and the president Tran Duc Luong. In order to restore Huong Son and construct Quang Tich castle, they built an eight roof bellStupa in Thien Tru yard in 1985.
After that a Huong Pagoda construction board was established with a main funtion was to fulfill the restoration on March 4, 1989. On march, 18,1989- fourty two years after the destruction of Thien Tru by colonialists, the groundbreaking ceremony was carried out right on the same place. In the near future, Huong Son is hoped to be restored completely and available for pilgrims and visitors at home and abroad. At present, Ministry of Culture and Information are making efforts to persuade Unessco to consider Huong Son one of the world heritage site.
thanks a lot!
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