Yen Tu listed in UNESCO heritage nominations

January 13, 2015 | 14:35

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The website of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included Yen Tu relic site in Viet Nam’s northeastern province of Quang Ninh in the list of nominated heritages in the coming time.

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Quang Ninh province and its neighboring Bac Giang have been preparing a dossier to seek the World Heritage status for the Yen Tu Buddhism Complex. It is expected to be completed in September this year and then submitted to UNESCO in 2016 for recognition in 2017.

The complex is a demonstration of an interaction between human beings and nature, reflecting the uninterrupted residence of people, especially Buddhism followers, since thousands of years ago.

Located on the 1,068m-high Yen Tu Mountain, the 20,000ha site is considered the capital of Vietnamese Buddhism, where in the 13 th century, King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) founded the first Vietnamese School of Buddhism called “Thien Tong” or Tuc Lam Yen Tu Zen.

Besides numerous temples, it also preserves many old religious and cultural documents such as precious prayer-books and monks’ writings.

With its significant historical, cultural and natural values, Yen Tu was recognized as a Special National Relic Site in September 2012. It was also selected as one of the 10 most popular spiritual destinations in Viet Nam by the Vietnam Records Organization.

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