Cam Due Tower (also known as Am Thap) was built in the 16th century on a high land, more than 2,000 m2 wide in Quang Trung village, Cam Due commune, Cam Xuyen district. The work was ranked as a national architectural art monument in 2006.
According to historical records, Cam Due ancient stone tower is the resting place of Le Am – a mandarin under the Le dynasty who had many merits to support the king and help the country. With many contributions to the court, Mr. Le Am was granted the privilege of choosing a living part (that is, choosing land for burial while he was still alive). And he decided to choose a high land near the Ngan Mo River – the source river that has nourished generations of people in the old My Due village and where he was born. After his death, the king granted him the title “Blessed god in the state of the city of Phuong Cai village”.
Surrounding the Tower is a system of walls built of purlin bricks. Photo: Ha Tinh Newspaper.
The tower has three floors, over 3m high, assembled from monolithic slabs. Surrounding the tower is a system of walls about 50cm thick, 1.2m high and built of purlin bricks (a type of brick used to build temples in the past. ).
Inside the first floor of the tower is the place to worship Le Am. The second floor of the tower saves 5 Chinese characters on the floating circle background, which is translated as “Thien Co body Duc created”; and the third floor of the tower has three embossed Chinese characters, translated as “Sunday and Moon” meaning praising the hearts of the ancients.
The ancient wall surrounding the Tower is more than 500 years old, meticulously and beautifully assembled by ancient craftsmen. On the mossy green stone floors, creating an ancient feature.
The tower has a square structure, more than 3 m high, including 3 floors (excluding the pedestal and legs), in front of the tower is an incense burner. Photo: Ha Tinh Newspaper.
Since its construction until now, the tower has undergone a restoration in 2009 – 2011. The authorities have renewed the shrine, built a three-way gate and a surrounding fence system with baked bricks.
The system of three three-way gates has been newly built since 2011. The roof of the gate is designed in the shape of a dragon and phoenix with stylized patterns. In front of the entrance to the tower, there are two pairs of horses and elephants carved in stone on either side.
Inside the shrine is arranged altar and incense burner for people and visitors from all over the world to pay their respects to the mandarin Le Am. Behind the shrine is the gate to the stone tower with two doors made of wood planks.
Next to Le Am shrine, there is a 500-year-old eagle tree. The tree is nearly 30m high, the canopy is more than 20m wide, the trunk diameter can’t be hugged by 2 people. The stump is rough, green moss clings to it. According to the people here, although the tree is over 500 hundred years old, it still bears fruit every year.
Cam Due ancient stone tower is one of the beautiful and sacred ancient towers with artistic architecture arranged in a harmonious and unique manner through the skillful hands of ancient workers. The locality always preserves the “unique” cultural and artistic values of the tower and considers it as a “red address” for younger generations to know more about its historical roots. Every year, Am Thap also welcomes thousands of visitors to burn incense and study historical values of architecture and religion.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Soha.vn – Read the original article here
