travel-A mountain of many names

In the northwest of Ha Nam province there is a limestone mountain range along the banks of the soft flowing Day River. However, without a signpost saying it is a historical site, you might be forgiven for missing it.

The mountain is not used to having a low profile, but we must look at the different names it has had over the years to help us tell its story.

Once, it was known as Cuon Son (the Swept-away Mountain). In 1069 Ly Thuong Kiet (1019-1105), one of Vietnam's most renowned generals during feudal times, brought his troops and warships down the Day River to fight an enemy in the south.

When the troops passed the mountain, a strong wind came across and Kiet ordered his troops and the ships to shelter at the bottom of the mountain. But, a mast on one of Kiet's ship snapped in the wind and a flag was swept away to the mountaintop.

Unsettled by this strange omen, Kiet conducted a ceremony on the river’s bank to pray for victory and named the mountain Cuon Son.

Kiet was victorious in battle and before returning to Thang Long Capital Citadel (now Hanoi), he stopped at the mountain, threw a feast for his troops and invited the locals to a month-long festival. He also sent troops to help the locals with rice cultivation and silkworm breeding.

To commemorate his merit, the locals set up a temple to worship him where the festival took place. Still, every year on the sixth day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, the locals hold a festival in his honour at the foot of the mountain with traditional games and music.

The temple is named Den Truc (Small Bamboo Temple) as it was placed among thousands of small bamboo trees that once grew at the site. The temple faces the Day River and standing in front of it one can appreciate the tranquility of the area.

Not long after the visit of General Kiet in 1069, the name Cuon Son was changed to Quyen Son.

This is most likely because the word "Cuon" appeared only in spoken Vietnamese and therefore, the locals had to use the word "Quyen" so that the name of the mountain could appear in official documents written in Sino-Vietnamese characters.

Since then, the mountain has also been known as Thi Son (the Grass Mountain), as it is said on the mountain there is a special variety of grass called co thi that can be used as a medicinal herb or for telling one's fortunes.

It has also been known as Cam Son (the Forbidden Mountain), as the locals believed it was very sacred and nobody was allowed to take a tree or even a dry branch off it. Consequently, the mountain is still quite lush.

At the top of the mountain, there is a flat stone that looks like a large chessboard and locals say at night fairies come down to play.

However, today the mountain is best known as Ngu Dong Son (the Mountain of Five Caves) and is open as a tourist attraction.

Inside the mountain, there are five limestone caves connected together by a natural tunnel over 100 metres long that goes through from one side of the mountain to the other.

The atmosphere in the caves is cool and each of the caves, all filled with stalagmite, have their own beauty. In the first cave, there is a statue of the Lord of the Holy Mountain featuring an eagle and a lion. It is connected to the four remaining caves by a long tunnel, only 1.6m high and 1.2m wide, large enough for two people to walk side by side. It is quite eerie entering this tunnel, although it is well lit.

The fourth cave is the biggest one. A statue of Buddha is placed in front of a stalagmite that looks rather like a large shark. In this cave, there is a small well from the Day River.

The fifth cave has a statue of Duc Thanh Long (the Dragon Saint), who is believed to report all human sins to the Ruler of Heaven to judge one's afterlife. That is why he has a book and a pen with him.

Dinh Cong Tan, the keeper of the caves were discovered one day in 1901, when two children herding buffaloes saw a bat flying out of a small hole in the mountain. They crept into the hole to chase the bats and found the caves.

Tan says there are two other caves in the mountain but a passageway to them has yet to be opened. But does that mean it will one day be known as the Mountain of Seven Caves?