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From Ninh Binh city, head
north 6km, turn left for nearly 1km tourists will reach
Thien Ton cave which lies at the foot of the Dung Duong
Mountain in Da Gia Hamlet, Ninh My Commune. In Dai Co
Viet time, Thien Ton was seen as the main entrance of
Hoa Lu citadel.
Legend has it that Dinh Bo Linh made votive offerings to
the local deity, asking for the latter's help before
leading his troops to conquer twelve feudal lords.
Finally, Dinh Bo Linh succeeded in his campaigns. More
recently, on the eve of the August Revolution, more than
ten thousand people from districts in Ninh Binh province
gathered in front of Thien Ton Cave for a demonstration
of strength.
The whole cave area has a fresh and tranquil scene with
many fruit trees and old trees. Thien Ton Cave has two
sections, the outer section is large and the inner one
is narrow. The outer cave is dedicated to the worship of
Buddha; the inner cave is where immortals are
worshipped. Thus, Thien Ton is both a Buddhist pagoda
and Daoist temple. There are many valuable things in the
cave, for example the bell cast during the Dynasty of
King Le Hien Tong, the Thien Ton Statue and groups of
lacquered and gilded Buddhist statues. The unique
feature of Thien Ton Cave is that all the worshipping
objects and architectural details including the pillars,
and the altars are made of rock decorated with stylized
images of dragons, the motif of the Ly dynasty.
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