January go to Huong Pagoda
(Baonghean.vn) – Huong Tich Pagoda (in Thien Loc commune, Can Loc district, Ha Tinh) is in its main festival from the 8th to the 18th of the second lunar month, but right from the first days of Spring, visitors from all over the world have been making pilgrimages here in large numbers. Some visit the pagoda, some go for a Spring tour, some go to pray for luck and love, believers come to take refuge in Buddha…
On the full moon day of the first lunar month, PV followed the crowd to the Hong Linh range, where there are 99 overlapping mountains stretching along the northern coast of Central Vietnam, creating for Nghe An a land of mountains and rivers that is both sacred, majestic and very charming.
Huong Pagoda (in Nghe An called Huong Tich Pagoda) is located on Thiu Linh peak - one of the 99 peaks of Hong Linh mountain range, nearly 500m above sea level, 25km from Ha Tinh city, 35km from Vinh city, more than 5km from National Highway 1A towards the sea.
For 5,000 VND, the boat will take visitors from the parking lot to the foot of the mountain in the Temple Area.
The road to "fairyland"
At the station, although very crowded, people still lined up orderly to wait for the cable car.
According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period in China, King Trang Vuong of Chu gave birth to three daughters. The youngest daughter, Dieu Thien, was forced into marriage by her father, so she fled to Viet Thuong (now our Vietnam). At Thiu Linh mountain, she stayed and built a hermitage to practice asceticism. She always did good deeds, saving people and helping the world. Soon she became famous as a compassionate and benevolent nun. When she passed away, she was transformed by Buddha into Quan Am Buddha.
Huong Tich Pagoda has been famous for its sacredness throughout the North for a long time. Many Buddhist followers from the northern delta provinces, although having gone to Huong Pagoda in the North (formerly Ha Tay province), still pack their bags and make a pilgrimage to Huong Tich Pagoda every year, climbing up to the shrine of Lady Buddha on the top of the mountain to worship, then sleeping there, and going down the mountain the next day. Due to the rugged terrain, high, steep mountains, fog all year round, cold, and dirt roads crossing forests and streams, it is very difficult to go up to the Pagoda, so weak people without determination cannot go up to the Pagoda, so the number of tourists coming here in previous years is not much.
Ha Tinh province and the authorities of Can Loc district and Thien Loc commune have jointly determined to invest in this spiritual cultural relic to become a key eco-cultural tourist destination of the province. In addition to the projects of renovating and upgrading temples, shrines, shrines and building stone steps for walking paths, the pagoda area also has a boat and electric car route built at the foot of the mountain, and a cable car system at the steepest slope (nearly 40 degrees) to take visitors up to the gate of the Tam Bao area and the Holy Mother Temple.
The entrance to the Holy Mother Temple is crowded with tourists.
Monk Minh Chon helps visitors perform prayer ceremonies before the Holy Mother Temple.
Choose to buy souvenirs before going down the mountain.
The cable car system consists of two stations connecting Mieu Co with Tam Bao area, 1,000m apart, 300m height difference, two parallel cable lines with 25 8-seat cabins, invested by Hong Linh Investment Development and Tourism Joint Stock Company (Hong Linh town) with 150 billion VND. Currently, the Company is directly managing and operating. The system has been in operation, welcoming guests since October 1, 2011, but it was not until the 6th day of the Lunar New Year that it was officially opened to celebrate the festival. This is the most obvious highlight of this Huong Tich Pagoda tourist area. And it is also this means of transport that has helped the relic site have a sudden increase in the number of visitors. Only two weeks after Tet, there were 4,000 to 5,000 visitors every day, and on the 15th day alone, there were nearly 10,000 visitors.
Ha Tinh province is preparing to start the project to build Trang Vuong Pagoda at this relic site with a very large scale, worthy of being a National Cultural - Tourist Relic Site.
Minh Thong
