According to Vietnamese beliefs, the first spring trip of the year will be more complete and meaningful with the journey of “going up the mountain, down to the sea”. Therefore, in the first days of spring, the cultural and spiritual tourist areas in the mountainous and coastal areas of Thanh Hoa are always bustling with people and tourists coming to offer incense and enjoy the scenery.
As promised, at the beginning of the new year of At Ty 2025, my family and some friends and I began our journey "up the forest, down to the sea". In the cold weather, with light drizzle, traveling 60km from Thanh Hoa city to the West, we arrived at the Cua Dat historical and scenic relic site (Thuong Xuan). Carefully offering incense and placing offerings at the Cam Ba Thuoc temple and the Ba Chua Thuong Ngan temple, we prayed for a new year of good luck for our family and relatives, and smooth and favorable work. This place is located high up, surrounded by mountain winds and beautiful clouds like a picturesque landscape painting. Standing from the relic site, looking out over the surrounding area, you can see the entire green natural space of Xuan Lien Nature Reserve and the mountains over 1,000m above sea level, covered with clouds all year round such as: Pu Rinh, Pu Gio, Pu Ta Leo. Especially in the middle of the vast sky and clouds, Cua Dat Lake appears as a delicate highlight that anyone who comes here wants to check-in to save this moment.
After a period of offering incense and visiting Cua Dat Temple, we went down to Doc Cuoc Temple located on Co Giai Islet, in Truong Le Mountain Range (Sam Son City). Amidst the billowing incense smoke, carrying with them the sincerity, people come here to pray for all things to flourish, for a peaceful and happy life. From ancient times until now, Doc Cuoc Temple has been quite famous for its beautiful natural scenery and the sacredness of the character worshiped. That is, the legend of the god Doc Cuoc - a strong young man with extraordinary strength who split his body in half to protect the villagers from a group of sea monsters. To remember the merit of destroying sea demons to protect the peace of the village and pray for protection and blessings for a peaceful life, the people here built a temple to worship Doc Cuoc God, annually organizing the Praying for Blessings Festival (February 16 of the lunar calendar), to commemorate the merit of Doc Cuoc God and his ancestors; At the same time, pray for national peace and prosperity, good health and prosperity, abundant fish and shrimp, good harvests, and tourism development.
On the journey to Doc Cuoc Temple, we offered incense and visited Co Tien Temple and To Hien Thanh Temple. These are all famous cultural and spiritual destinations in Sam Son City. At each destination, we were quite impressed with the thoughtful reception of the relic management boards, as well as the clean and beautiful landscape and environment at the relics. The offering of incense and placing of offerings were also carried out solemnly and respectfully by the people, without any jostling or pushing. In addition, Sam Son City also arranged a parking lot, assigned functional forces to direct traffic, and guide vehicles to park in the right place, avoiding congestion, chaos, and loss of urban beauty.
Ending the “up the forest, down to the sea” tour, although we have not yet visited all the spiritual destinations in Thanh land, the trip has brought us interesting experiences because of the beautiful natural scenery, the value of the relics as well as the “sacredness” of the worshiped characters. The journey “up the forest, down to the sea” to spiritual addresses to pray for health, peace, and happiness for family and relatives is not only a long-standing beauty, but also an opportunity for each person to turn to noble cultural and spiritual values.
Article and photos: Nguyen Dat
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nhon-nhip-tour-nbsp-len-rung-xuong-bien-239649.htm
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