Hoa Lu - The Ancient Land

Hoa Lu was the ancient capital of the first centralised feudal state of Vietnam through 42 years, witnessing the rise and fall of the Dinh and Le dynasties, and the dawn of the Ly dynasty. It was the origin land of three monarchs, and the home of Tam Coc-Bich Dong landscape with its natural beauties of mountains, forests, rocks and grottoes in addition to its historical significance.

The TrangAn grotto complex, a part of Hoa Lu ancient capital, offers beautiful natural scenery with caves, valleys, rivers, mounts and trees, creating a poetic space for the ancient capital. This complex comprises well-known beautiful grottoes and valleys like the Outside Dark Cave, Inside Dark Cave, Bright Cave, Sacred Land Cave, Medicine Cave, Tran Temple Valley, Khong Valley, Wine Brewery Valley, Three Drops Cave, as well as monuments of great architectural, historic and religious value such as the Temple of Dinh Tien Hoang , Temple of Le Dai Hanh, Mausoleums of Dinh Monarch, Le Monarch, One-Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Phat Kim Princess, Tran Temple and Vuc Temple.

In 2010, Thang Long will celebrate its millennial anniversary, and by that time, the project of Trang An Tourist Zone will have been completed to highlight the great importance of the ancient capital in the historic transition from Hoa Lu to Thang Long-Ha Noi.

Ninh Binh Provincial Tourist Department and Ninh Binh Consruction Consultant Company have worked out the detailed planning of Trang An historic-cultural-ecological tourist zone. This project is being developed with a view to preserving and restoring the historic cultural heritage of Hoa Lu ancient capital, attracting visitors, and promoting traditional values and the spirit of independence among the young generation in the cause of national building and safeguarding.

The building of Trang An tourist zone will create an integrated tour through various tourist spots including Hoa Lu ancient capital, Trang An grottoes, and Tam Coc-Bich Dong with great attractions for both domestic and foreign visitors. The tourist zone will contribute to the transformation of economic structure, job generation, hunger eradication, poverty reduction and socio-economic development in Ninh Binh province. It also forms the focal tourist zone of Ninh Binh, providing added impetus for the development of other tourist areas in the province.

Towards these ends, the first priority is to restore Am Tiem Pagoda, Ghenh Thap, Lien Hoa Grotto, Heaven Sacrifices Esplanade, Ban Long Pagoda, Bai Dinh mountain pagoda, Tran Temple, Dot Palace, Khong Palace, Vuc Temple, and especially the historic and cultural vestige complex of Hoa Lu ancient capital. At the same time, spiritual and cultural festivals will also be revived.

Lying adjacent to the spiritual cultural zone (in the direction of Ban Long pagoda), Dai Viet Zone will display objects that illustrate the Dai Viet spririt of our ancestors who founded the first centralised feudal state in Vietnam and ended one thousand years of Chinese domination. Also at this place, Dai Viet gate will be built in an architecture imbued with folk style.

Inside this zone, the architecture of ancient houses of ethnic nationalities in Vietnam will be restored; a historic wall with be built to reflect the process of the founding and development of three royal dynasties (Dinh, Ante-Le, and Ly) from the late 10^th century to the early 11^th century .

During the period from Dinh, Le to Ly, Tran dynasties, Buddism in Vietnam developed vigorously and was considered the national religion. Each king, under his reign, appointed one Buddist Chief Priest. In particular, King Ly Cong Uan was educated and brought to the throne by Bonze Van Hanh. It may be argued that Hoa Lu was the center of Vietnamese Buddism from the 9^th century to the 13^th century. During the Tran dynasty, Vu Lam was the chief town of the Tran Kings’ royal stop-over place. King Tran Thai Tong abdicated the throne to his son when he was still very young, and then built this area into a Buddist land. Also during the Tran dynasty, many Buddist sects were integrated into a new powerful sect called Truc Lam Zen Sect headed by Tran Nhan Tong, and since then Ninh Hai commune became a cradle of Vietnamese Buddism. Explorations show that this area had many temples and pagodas and is rich in legends.

Therefore, in this zone, more Buddist statues and bronze bells will be placed; a house in commemoration of Buddist Chief Priests will be built; Arhat statues will be erected; internal roads, power supply, water supply and drainage will be developed, and flower-gardens and ancient trees will be grown in service of spiritual festivals.

These unique landscapes of great historic and cultural value have brought to Hoa Lu an invaluable treasure. The value of this treasure will be fully promoted if relevant agencies and sectors invest in building Hoa Lu into an attractive historic-cultural-ecological tourism zone.

• Kim Dung