A special temple in Thanh Hoa, every day there are wild monkeys coming together

To prevent the wild monkeys from going hungry, every day Venerable Thich Tinh Hai, abbot of Linh Ung pagoda, Vinh An commune, Vinh Loc district (Thanh Hoa) brings a whole nest of corn to feed the monkeys.

To prevent the wild monkeys from going hungry, every day Venerable Thich Tinh Hai, abbot of Linh Ung pagoda, Vinh An commune, Vinh Loc district (Thanh Hoa) brings a whole nest of corn to feed the monkeys.

Linh Ung Pagoda is located in the complex of Kim Son National Scenic Area, Vinh An Commune, Vinh Loc District. It is not clear when the pagoda was built, but there is a stele carved into the cliff stating that it was restored during the reign of King Bao Dai, restored in 2006 on the old foundation.

The temple is located at a charming mountain location, in the middle of Ngoc Kieu gate and Kim Son cave, surrounded by majestic rocky mountains.

Linh Ung Pagoda leans back against the cliff.

According to Venerable Thich Tinh Hai, he was appointed as the abbot at Linh Ung Pagoda in 2009. When he first returned, the temple was still very unspoiled. He saw herds of wild monkeys go to the rocky mountains near the temple and down to the courtyard of the temple.

“In the beginning, when the monkeys came down, I took food for them to eat. The wild monkeys were very afraid of people, I just put the food on the yard and went inside, the monkeys dared to approach. After a while, the monkeys got used to it and often returned to the temple," said Mr. Hai.

Master Thich Tinh Hai shared about taking care of wild monkeys for many years.

According to Mr. Hai, the first time the monkeys returned was not much. About 5 years ago, when the mountains surrounding the pagoda were licensed to exploit quarries (with a radius of about 1km, there were 5 quarries), the sound of blasting and breaking rock affected the landscape, gradually losing habitat. animals, so the monkeys have to find shelter and food.

Master Hai is scattering corn for the monkeys to eat.

Master Hai recalled, once, the sound of mines breaking rocks exploded continuously, a group of monkeys about twenty children scattered about the temple. He saw that a monkey had just come down to the temple yard and died, so he brought that monkey to bury.

Knowing that they might be injured or hungry, Mr. Hai went into the temple to take out a pot of corn kernels for the monkeys to eat.

A herd of monkeys came down to eat corn in the temple yard.

There was a time when the monkeys were down to hundreds of monkeys.

“Every day I feed, and each meal is more than a nest of corn kernels. Over time, they get used to it, every time the monkeys come down to the temple, after eating, they go back to the mountain.

Usually in winter, monkeys come down to eat on time, from 7am to 8am. In the summer, there are many kinds of fruit on the mountain, so they come back erratically, not at a fixed time. However, whenever the monkeys come back, I will feed them at that time," said Mr. Hai.

Quarrying activities affect the landscape and living environment around Kim Son scenic area.

According to Mr. Hai, there are days when the number of monkeys coming to the temple is more than 100.

In order to have food to feed the monkeys over the years, Mr. Hai has mobilized Buddhists.

He said, many Buddhists come to the temple to free lives. He himself found that liberating animals had many problems, so he analyzed that instead of buying animals to free them, he should support buying corn and rice for monkeys to eat, which would be better and more practical.

“Visitors visiting the Kim Son scenic area love to watch wild monkeys playing on the cliffs and tree branches. This is also a highlight to develop local tourism. Through this, we also suggest that the authorities at all levels need to minimize the exploitation of quarries and take measures to protect the monkeys from disappearing and gradually disappearing", Mr. Hai said.

Master Hai shared, this is a herd of wild monkeys, with a large number of hundreds of them, so the feeding of the temple over the years has not been able to be tamed. Monkeys are still afraid when people approach, that's why monkeys still go down to the temple to destroy worshiping things.

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Update day : 30/07/2023