Considered the most sacred land of the Mekong Delta, That Son (consisting of 7 mountains: Cam, To, Tuong, Sam, Ket, Dai, and Nuoc) in the border area of An Giang province, has long been famous for many legends, both real and unreal. Among them is the legend of the giant clouded cobra weighing hundreds of kilograms.
A reticulated python...
Considered by many to be the most sacred land in the Mekong Delta, the That Son area (consisting of 7 mountains: Cam, To, Tuong, Sam, Ket, Dai, and Nuoc) on the border of An Giang province has long been famous for many legends, both real and unreal. Among them is the legend of the giant clouded king cobra weighing hundreds of kilograms.
Until now, although no one has confirmed or denied it, it is not rare for people to catch king cobras weighing several dozen kilos.
Scary stories
In 2019, a pair of clouded tigers, one of which weighed up to 60 kg, was caught by a group of workers working on a solar power project, causing a stir in public opinion, attracting thousands of people. But not only in stories, clouded tigers in this land also enter cultural life, appearing in most ancient books, or in folk worship culture.
Following the spiritual stories, both real and unreal, we found Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, 73 years old, a man born and raised in Nui To commune (Tri Ton, An Giang) on a weekend morning. After sitting and drinking coffee and chatting at the foot of Co To mountain, one of the 7 That Son mountains, Mr. Hai agreed to let us go up the mountain to look for the giant clouded king cobra.
Like many people in the Co To area, Mr. Hai often calls the king cobra "Mr. Cloud" and has built a small shrine to worship Mr. Cloud on the mountainside.
In addition, in this Co To mountain area, where thousands of households live scattered along the foot of the mountain, halfway up the mountain, there is also an altar for "Mr. Cloud" to pray for good things in life. There is a shrine for "Mr. Cloud" at the foot of the mountain near the Suoi Vang tourist area with incense smoke all year round, pilgrims from everywhere often stop by.
Mr. Hai told about the moment he met "Mr. Cloud" - a giant cloud snake in That Son mountain area of An Giang province.
Although of Khmer origin, Mr. Hai is quite fluent in Vietnamese. He said that since he was a child, he has mostly stayed around Co To Mountain, rarely going anywhere else. He has done all kinds of jobs, from cutting bamboo shoots at the foot of the mountain to collecting medicinal leaves, ginseng roots, wood ear mushrooms, coconut roots, rattan, licorice... to sell at the market.
He also carries things (such as water, food...) for pilgrims climbing to the top of the mountain. He knows almost all the trails, paths, caves and nooks on the mountain by heart.
But in more than seventy years of his life, only once in his life did he unexpectedly meet "Mr. Cloud".
Mr. Hai said that about 30 years ago, he and his two children went up the mountain to pick mangoes. It was midday, and he saw his daughter pointing behind him fearfully, about to leave. A chill ran down his spine, even though he had not turned around to look behind him.
Then, with his survival instinct, he slowly turned around and saw a pair of deep blue-black eyes like a cat's but narrower looking at him. At that moment, he also realized that "Mr. Cloud" seemed to have a third eye. At that moment, he could not think of anything but slowly slid down the mango tree and knelt down, bowing his head before "Mr. Cloud".
After he raised his head, he could not see the “cloud” anywhere, only a strong fishy smell lingered, which quickly disappeared when the wind came from the other side of the mountain. Only then did he regain his composure, and hurriedly gathered all the mangoes he had picked and his two children and went down the mountain.
According to Mr. Hai, the “cloud” he encountered was 7-8 meters long, as big as a banana tree in bloom. That was also the first and only time in his life he faced the “cloud” for a few short seconds…
Giant king cobra in That Son mountain area of An Giang province.
Following Mr. Hai’s guidance, we began our journey to explore and search for the “cloud man’s” residence. According to Mr. Hai, although they have not yet seen the “cloud man” in this cave, many people in the Co To area believe that this is where the “cloud man” lives because they have seen eggs, a strong fishy smell, as well as many stream fish, the favorite food of the “cloud man”. People all believe that the cave is where the “cloud man” lays eggs, catches a lot of food to bring back to the young, and usually no one dares to go near the cave area.
This is an area with many wild and overgrown vines, the path is just a self-made path. From the pilgrim trail to the top of Cap Mot (about 630 meters high), you have to go around for more than a kilometer to reach the cave entrance. The cave mouth is very wide, with many jagged rocks. Although very hospitable, Mr. Hai only dared to lead us to the first step of the cave for fear of disturbing the "cloud god"'s residence.
According to Mr. Hai, although no one has been bitten or attacked by the "cloud man", it is not good to meet the "cloud man", unless the "cloud man" wants someone to meet him!
Giant Snake Culture
Mr. Hai's stories, both real and fictional, are very familiar to people in the border area of An Giang because many people have also experienced them.
The “cloud” in the lives of the people in this region is actually the king cobra, which appears a lot in tropical forests including India and Southeast Asia. The king cobra is very poisonous and is much larger in size than other snakes.
In many other places, people have caught king cobras weighing hundreds of kilos and measuring up to 7-8 meters long. In Vietnam, king cobras are rare animals, listed in the Red Book as being at high risk of extinction due to overhunting.
Co To mountain top, in the distance is Dai mountain, one of the 7 mountains of That Son.
According to our research, in reality, the border area of Tinh Bien and Tri Ton in An Giang province does not only have 7 mountains, but since ancient times, people still call this That Son.
There are many different explanations, but perhaps the phrase That Son and these seven mountains are associated with the Buu Son Ky Huong religion, which had influence in the An Giang region, and later gave birth to many other religions in the Southwest region, the most prominent of which is Hoa Hao Buddhism.
In fact, this land has more than 30 large and small mountains scattered, not connected in many communes and towns of the border area. Each mountain with a circumference of tens of kilometers today has its own distinct cultural and religious characteristics, but the common point is that there are often small shrines worshiping "Mr. Cloud", a giant snake that is both real and imaginary.
But not only appearing in stories, from the book Gia Dinh Thanh Thong Chi by Trinh Hoai Duc to the stories of writer Son Nam, Ho Bieu Chanh's notes about the That Son region, the clouded king cobra has been mentioned, present in the cultural life of the local community for hundreds of years.
Even for the Khmer community in this border area, the king cobra is carved into all important cultural and religious works of the people.
In temples, tombs or sacred places of worship of the community, giant snakes are always shaped solemnly and majestically. To them, snakes are creatures that can protect people from evil as well as deter evil in each person.
Mr. Hai looked up and could not see the “cloud man” anywhere, only a strong fishy smell lingered, which quickly disappeared when the wind came from the other side of the mountain. Only then did he regain his composure, and hurriedly gathered all the mangoes he had picked and went down the mountain with his two children.
The “cloud” that Mr. Hai encountered was about 7-8 meters long, as big as a banana tree in bloom. That was also the first and only time in his life that he faced the “cloud” for a few short moments…
Source: https://danviet.vn/vung-nui-that-son-cua-an-giang-lam-hang-hoc-ron-nguoi-nghe-ke-chuyen-ran-ho-may-khong-lo-20241220125028717.htm
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