Visitors to the Am Phu Cave located in the Marble Mountains Tourist Area in Hoa Hai Ward, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang, will have the opportunity to admire somewhat mysterious landscape, as well as understand more about the philosophy of life and the law of karma - the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of a person influence the future.

The entrance to the Am Phu Cave. Photo: THAI MY

1. Not as magnificent as Huyen Khong Cave positioned on the top of the Thuy Son (the Mountain of Water) in the Marble Mountains special national-level relic site, the Am Phu Cave is located at the foot of the mountain. This is the second largest cave in the heart of the Thuy Son. The arches of the natural cave range from 45m to 50m, and there are impressive rock formations featuring the Buddhist perception of hell or purgatory.

Am Phu is the Vietnamese word for hell. The godfather of the cave’s name was King Minh Mang. The story says that the king sent 12 soldiers with torches to explore the cave. However, when the torches were lit up, the wind blowing from the cave was chillingly cold, causing the torches to go out, and the cave was filled with a mysterious night.

Unable to go deep into the cave, King Minh Mang asked his soldiers to take a grapefruit with the king's name on it and throw it into the cave. The next morning, a fisherman picked up that pomelo, and brought it to the king. As a result, King Minh Mang concluded that the bottom of the cave opened to the sea, so he immediately named it ‘Am Phu Cave’.

With the unique architecture of nature quite suitable for the name ‘Am Phu’, a Buddhist philosophy was associated with the cave to teach human personality and morality.

With that meaning, the cave is considered as a place reserved for the souls of the afterlife. The talented stone sculptors of the Non Nuoc stone carving village have sculptured more statues to complement the natural architecture in order to promote humanity, promote good, and eradicate evil.

2. It is quite easy for tourists to visit the Am Phu Cave because they don't have to climb uphill, just need to step up a few steps to reach the Yin-Yang Bridge, also known as Nai Ha or Dau Thai Bridge spanning over the Vong Xuyen River.

In another sense, every soul must cross this bridge to go to the hell. 12 zodiac statues, symbolizing the 12 soldiers of King Minh Mang who came here in the past, are placed along the bridge.

After crossing the Yin-Yang Bridge, on three steps there are two white 2m-high candles called soul lights which are lit to illuminate the souls of the underworld easily.

On the left of the cliff, there is the god named Nam Tao who is responsible for checking names and ages of dead people. Only those whose names are listed in the Book of Life and Death are brought to the presence of the King of Hell.

Meanwhile, the god named Bac Dau is standing on the right of the cliff. He is holding a torch in his hand, leading the souls who do not know the way to the cave.

In the middle of the cave, there is a rather large heroic altar with an incense pot in the style of a Dong Son bronze drum to commemorate the ancestors.

At this place, on the left is the way to Thien Gioi (Heaven) Cave, which is craggy, high but bright, cool, full of air for the souls of the good. Meanwhile, on the right is the winding road to hell for the souls of the wicked.

Next is the Court of Justice, the god who sits on trial in hell, and there is a Thien Ly (Justice) scale in front of him. He recorded all sins and tried them justly without exception.

After the god made the judgment, the buffalo-headed, horse-faced people escorted the souls to the office of the Ten Kings of Hell who ruled the underworld. There is an ‘Nghiet Kinh Dai’ mirror in front of the seats of the Kings to illuminate sins.

The Kings of Hell took turns questioning each person's crimes while on earth, according to the records of the Court of Justice. Those who deny, complain or appeal are brought to the mirror for illumination. Through this glass, anyone who shows good deed will be shown the way to the Thien Gioi Cave, or to work for the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. If anyone sows evil karma, depending on the seriousness and lightness of the crime, they will be sent to 9 prisons, of which the A Pi Prison is the deepest and most harsh place.

There are 9 kings who are in charge of governing the prisons, and a god named ‘Chuyen Luan Vuong’ watches over the condemned souls after having suffered enough punishments, but knows how to convert evil, become an honest person, and then reincarnate.

Before being reincarnated, souls will receive bowls of rice porridge from Manh Ba to forget all the sins of their previous life.

Moreover, there is the Dia Tang Bao Tang in the Am Phu Cave with the image of the wheel of reincarnation, above which there are 9 dragons representing the 9 gates of hell ruled by the Dia Tang King. He went to the hell to help the exiled souls to become good people.

The most touching scene in the A Pi Prison is the legend of Maudgalyayana, known as Muc Kien Lien in Viet Nam, one of the ten great students of Buddha.

According to the Sutra, Muc Kien Lien went down to the underworld to find his mother, Thanh De, but he couldn’t save her because of evil acts in her previous life. Therefore, his whole life he only knew how to cultivate his heart to atone for his mother's mistakes. Every year, on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, Bodhisattva Muc Kien Lien goes to the hell to repay his mother's gratitude, and since then, the Vu Lan Festival has been preserved and handed down to this day.

Reporting by THAI MY - Translating by M.DUNG