Travel story, Hang Pagoda in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam

1. Geographical location

Hang pagoda, also known as “Tien Lu Buddha Cave”, was built at a special cave called Tien Lu cave in Cho Chu town, Dinh Hoa district. It is 3 km far from Thai Nguyen City to the North.

2. Legendary story of Hang pagoda

This pagoda was built during the Ly Dynasty in XI century when Buddhism experienced the most prosperous time. One morning in the spring in 1022, King Ly Thanh Tong told his wife, Nguyen Phi Y Lan about his dream, in which he was taken by Buddha to the spiritual land in Dong Hy, Thai Nguyen. Then, his wife traveled to there immediately. After realizing the charming landscapes, gigantic mountains and vast caves, she demanded to build a Buddhist pagoda in the large cave. Originally, the name of the pagoda was “Kim Son Tu” but people often called it “Chua Hang” (Chua: pagoda, Hang: cave, Chua Hang: the pagoda in a cave) because the pagoda was built in the cave.

3. Architecture and worshipping monuments

In the pagoda there are two giant statues “Good – Evil” on the elephant and tiger. The more deeply we go into the cave, the larger it is. There are many stalactites on the roof, a lot of big stone pillars standing up against the cave arch. Around the cave, many stalactites jut out into altars and attractive uncanny objects. The cave has many nooks, the way to the heaven, the way to the hell, the front and back door. The climate in the cave is so fresh, warm in winter and cool in summer. Incense smoke always spreads to make the pagoda blur and become more mysterious.

4. Culture

Every year, the Hang pagoda festival is held on February 10th with participation of the people coming from everywhere, especially residents living in Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province.

When we visit Hang pagoda, especially in spring, we can not only visit many landscapes but also pray blessing for ourselves and or family in the New Year. Moreover, it is completely pleasant for us to see stalactites and take photos, etc.

Generally, this is our interesting destination that tourists should not miss when visiting Thai Nguyen province in Vietnam.

By Nguyen Thanh Tung

Reference: http://daithainguyen.vn/Danh-cho-du-khach/chua-hang-6.html

https://sites.google.com/site/thainguyentourismvn/long-tong-festival-1

http://haititravels.org/discover-hang-pagoda.html