|
 The
area of Yen Tu is made up of a system of
pagodas, shrines, towers and forests, belonging
to the village of Thuong
Yen Cong
Commune, Uong Bi
Town. It is about 40 km from Ha Long City and 14
km from Uong Bi
Town.
Situated within the immense arched mountain
range of north-eastern Vietnam, Yen Tu Mountain
bears at its peak the Ðong
Pagoda: at an altitude of 1,068 m above sea
level. The beauty of Yen Tu consists in the
majesty of its mountains mingling with the
ancient and solemn quietness of its pagodas,
shrines and towers.
You
can get to Hoa Yen
Pagoda at the altitude of 534 m by the cable car
system recently put into operation and will see
on this peak two 700-year-old frangipane trees.
From there, you will continue walking up stairs
to pagodas of minor note lined up along the path
leading to Ðong
Pagoda. There you will feel like walking on
clouds. If the weather is agreeable, from this
summit you can admire the dramatic landscape of
the northeast of Vietnam.
In
spring, Yen Tu attracts a large number of
tourists going on pilgrimage and sightseeing.
Yen Tu festival begins on the 10th day of the
first lunar month and lasts until the end of
third lunar month.
 Under
the Ly Dynasty, Yen Tu
held the Phu Van
Pagoda, with Yen Ky
Sinh as its warden. But Yen Tu only really
became a Buddhism centre when Emperor Tran
Nhan Tong
surrendered his throne to establish a Buddhist
sect called Thien Truc
Lâm and became the first progenitor with the
religious name Ðieu Ngu
Giac Hoang
Tran Nhan
Tong (1258-1308). He
ordered building hundreds of constructions,
large and small on Yen Tu Mountain for leading a
religious life, sermonizing. After his death,
his successor, Phap
Loa Ðong Kien
Cuong (1284 - 1330)
the second progenitor of Thien
Truc Lam,
compiled a set of book “Thach
that ngon
ngu” and ordered the
building of 800 pagodas, shrines and towers with
thousands of value statues throughout 19 years
of religious life. Some famous pagodas are Quynh
Lam, Ho
Thien. There is the
third progenitor of Thien
Truc Lam,
Huyen Quang Ly
Ðao Tai
(1254 - 1334), in the sermonizing centre of Phap
Loa.
Passing through to the Le
and Nguyen Dynasties,
Yen Tu became the focal point of Vietnamese
Buddhism, and was often subject to restorations.
It is a meeting place of different styles from
various historic periods: visible in the many
different designs and decorations that ornate
its constructions. |
