"Chua Huong - Perfume Pagoda" a Hanoi Travel Page by sunnywong

Chua Huong (Perfume pagoda) is located in Huong son (Perfume mountain) 70 km southwest of Hanoi. Chua Huong is not one temple but a cluster of temples and shrines in the general vicinity of Huong son.

Visitors to Perfume pagoda must drive through Ha Dong city, Van Dinh township to Ben Duc (pier Duc). The road is in poor condition so it can take more than 2 hours to travel the 50 miles from Hanoi to Ben Duc. Although there is a road from the pier to the base of Perfume mountain, most people choose to use row boats on Yen Vi river, which is by far the more romantic and scenic route to chua Huong.

one-hour row boat ride on the Yen Vi river is the highlight of the trip.

There is an informal protocol when arriving to Chua Huong. The first stop must always be a visit to Den Trinh. Den Trinh means registration shrine. All visitors to Chua Huong must first "trinh" or register at the shrine and to announce their intentions.

The next point of interest would be a visit to Thien Tru temple (chua Ngoai - Outer Temple). The temple was built in the 18th century. Thien Tru means heavenly kitchen. This name was derived from the imagination of the locals in this region. Supposedly, the rock formations in this area look like chefs busily working in the kitchen. The name Thien Tru is also the name of a constellation - for the god of the kitchen.

Thien Tru temple is famous for the Thuy Tien tower, a granite monolith. To the right of Thien Tru temple is Tien Son grotto. Tien son is famous for the five granite statues and the various formations on the walls of the cave. When struck, these formations sound like a Vietnamese percussion instrument called "Khanh", and some sound like bells.

A visit to chua Huong is incomplete without going to chua Trong or Inner temple (also known as Dong Huong Tich - Huong Tich grotto). The path to Huong Tich grotto is forged by nature through thousands of years of changes. Today, the path leading to chua Trong is a series of smooth granite slabs stacking on one another creating a series of switch backs leading to the temple.

Upon arriving to Huong Tich grotto, there is a 120 steps descend as the temple lies deep within the grotto. At the entrance to the grotto, there is "heaven's gate" (path to heaven) and "hell's gate" (descend to hell).

In the 18th century, Lord Trinh Sam had 5 words, "Nam Thien De Nhat Dong" meaning, "the most beautiful grotto under southern sky", carved onto the granite slab at the entrance to Huong Tich grotto. According to legend, the cave was discovered two thousand years ago. However, local people only began to place a shrine there in 1575, and later a larger temple was built.

Credits: Huy Thien & Trung Viet
Photos: Copyright (c) 1995 Viet Bach