Con Son - Kiep Bac leaves a beautiful impression in the hearts of tourists

Back to the roots

Walking on the stone steps to Nguyen Trai Temple in the spring weather, Ms. Trinh Thi Hien (Binh Luc district, Ha Nam) felt very relaxed. Ms. Hien said that she is a literature teacher, so when she came to the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site, she felt like she was returning to the roots of the nation, everything was very meaningful. It is not too far from her hometown Ha Nam, so she has come to Con Son - Kiep Bac many times during both the spring and autumn festivals.

This year, Ms. Doan Ngoc Nga from Ha Dong District (Hanoi) and her group of retired friends returned to the Con Son - Kiep Bac spring festival. Ms. Nga said that the reason why people love to come to Con Son - Kiep Bac is because this place has all the elements of returning to the land of Buddha and worshiping talented generals and famous people of the nation. Especially every year on this occasion, Ms. Nga's group of guests also gets to watch meaningful programs at the festival such as the competition of wrapping banh chung, banh giay or wrestling...

Coming here gives many people the feeling of returning to their national roots because Con Son - Kiep Bac is a legendary mountain area, closely associated with the life and career of Tran Hung Dao and Nguyen Trai - two outstanding national heroes who brought glory to the country, along with many cultural celebrities of the nation such as: Tran Nhan Tong, Phap Loa, Huyen Quang, Tran Nguyen Dan...

The relics and names of famous people and generals of the Truc Lam Zen sect, especially Nguyen Trai, have elevated Con Son - Kiep Bac to become a national temple, a particularly important relic of the nation, and a place to return to in the spiritual life of many Vietnamese people.

Every year, in Con Son - Kiep Bac, there are two traditional festivals: spring and autumn. The spring festival commemorates the death anniversary of the Third Holy Ancestor Huyen Quang (January 23). The autumn festival commemorates the death anniversary of Saint Tran Hung Dao (August 20 of the lunar calendar) and the death anniversary of National Hero, World Cultural Celebrity Nguyen Trai (August 16 of the lunar calendar). Both festivals have many unique traditional rituals and attractive folk games.

Visiting the "Phoenix"

In addition to its historical and cultural values, the Con Son - Kiep Bac relic site is also a land of unique natural landscapes. Kiep Bac has the majestic Dragon Forehead mountain range that overlooks the entire Luc Dau River, with its charming landscape.

As for Con Son, the place where Nguyen Trai once wrote: "Con Son stream flows murmuringly/ I hear it like the sound of a zither by my ear/ Con Son has moss-covered rocks/ I sit on the rocks like sitting on a soft mat/ In the middle of a pine forest growing like wedges...”.

That poetic beauty is no different from the "fairyland", captivating many people, including foreign tourists.

Visiting Con Son on February 12, during the Spring Festival, Ms. Fonvieille Laure (born in 1957), a French woman of Vietnamese origin, could not help but admire the natural beauty of this place.

“I am a Buddhist. In France, wherever I go, I often go to the temple to pray for luck. But here, the temple is not only beautiful but the surrounding natural landscape is also stunning,” said Ms. Fonvieille Laure.

On this occasion, Ms. Ahn Seeun, a student of Keimyung University (Korea), along with teachers and friends, visited Thanh Dong High School (Hai Duong City). After being introduced to the land and people of Hai Duong, the delegation went to Con Son - Kiep Bac to pay homage. After burning incense in front of Con Son Pagoda, Ms. Ahn Seeun said: “The scenery here is sacred and very beautiful. I burned incense and prayed for good health and good studies. I think my friends will do the same when they come here. A peaceful place and will pray for peace.”

Promoting the historical, cultural and natural values ​​of the special national relic site of Con Son - Kiep Bac, in recent years, with many resources, Hai Duong has restored and renovated the relics, preserving both the inherent traditional features and the beauty and cleanliness. At the same time, the province has also raised the level of the Con Son - Kiep Bac festival with many meaningful programs and activities in both the ceremony and the festival, becoming more and more attractive to visitors from all over the world.

Since the Lunar New Year of the Snake, tens of thousands of tourists have come to Con Son - Kiep Bac, creating a joyful atmosphere in the place of the Zen Monastery and the sacred land of Van Kiep.

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With great historical, cultural, scientific values... Con Son - Kiep Bac is an integral part of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac complex. Therefore, Con Son - Kiep Bac of Hai Duong together with Yen Tu (Quang Ninh), Vinh Nghiem (Bac Giang) have completed the dossier to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a world cultural heritage.