The journey to the "underworld"

For those who have no understanding about the underworld a visit to Suoi Tien Theme Park in HCMC will disclose the twelve levels of the underworld, where people are punished for bad behavior or for committing crimes when they were alive.

Tu Van Pagoda in Cam Ranh of central province of Khanh Hoa is an interesting place where one can visit an artificial underworld, a scary construction made from thousands of blocks of corals with terrifying images in the dim light.

When in Five Devine Mountains Area (Ngu Hanh Son) in the central province of Quang Nam, after you have seen the pagodas and caves, remember to visit the Underworld Cave which was opened to public in 2006 September.

The Underworld Cave is a spacious area about 1,000 square meters. It served as a secret shelter for Vietnamese soldiers during the two wars. The wartime headquarters of Quang Nam authority witnessed important decisions during 1936 to 1939 and was the site of a battle between five Vietnamese soldiers and two American battalions on December 24, 1968.

Thousands of years of geographic change have carved a complex system of caves into the hillside of the limestone mountain. Designers used the structure of the cave to change it into the Buddhism-originated underworld, a place, it is said, that all men have to visit after ending their lives in the real world. It is where they pay for anything bad they have done in their lives and suffer punishment, the nature of which is determined by the severity of their actions.

The man-made underworld consists of twelve levels, from Dam Thien Son to Thien Thai Gioi; each level is punishment for wrongdoers. The natural chill and dim light in the cave make the journey more real and exciting.

After entering the gate into the afterlife world visitors will see a line of sparkling torchlight lighting up a small part of the death world, revealing a device symbolizing the eternal cycle of birth, suffering, death, and rebirth. Next to it is a stone replica of the Yama Kings who judge the dead after entering their world with fear-some faces. There is a stone altar nearby where visitors can burn some incense for them.

The natural structure of the cave combined with human creativity makes the downward path look like a path to the real underworld. The twelve levels appearing one by one to reveal the punishment faced by sinners, such as grinding, burning or being fried in oil will make one's heart beat faster and faster.

Following the awful journey downward and the experience of extreme fear there is an upward staircase leading to Heaven (Thien Thai Gioi). Climb up to greet the light from the sun and feel the warmth of the real world to lead lives that are more meaningful ever.