Hanoi celebrates 1,000 years of existence (Vietnam Diary)
October 29th, 2010 - 10:09 am ICT by IANS
By Minu Jain
Hanoi, Oct 29 (IANS) This charming city, now playing host to the ASEAN summit and many world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is also celebrating its 1,000-year anniversary.
The streets are strung with fairy lights as are the fringes of the many lakes. Elaborate floral arrangements can be seen alongside the streets as this Vietnam capital looks back 1,000 years to 1010 when it came into being.
That’s when the capital of the Viet Kingdom moved to what is now known as Hanoi. The government is hoping to maximise the tourism potential of the event and is reported to have spent more than $60 million on the celebrations.
Parades, film shows, corporate houses like Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Corporation compiling 1,000 best wishes and 1,000 dragons cast in traditional methods to be sold as souvenirs are some of the events that have marked the millennial celebrations of this city.
-*-
The city within the river
Hanoi, or more correctly Ha Noi could not have been more aptly named - Ha for river and Noi within - so the city within the river. The many lakes, the Hoan Kiem lake in the centre of the town and the West Lake, more evocatively named Ho Te, add serene charm to this historic town.
But Hanoi was not always Hanoi. The story goes that the city was Dai La when it was founded in the fall of 1010. The king then saw a vision of a dragon ascending from the Red river and named it Thang Long, or ascending dragon.
That was the first of the many changes till 1831 when King Minh Mang renamed it Hanoi.
-*-
The India connect
India’s linkages with Vietnam go back almost six decades when late former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru became one of the first visitors to the country after its victory against the French in 1954.
After the first prime minister, first president Rajendra Prasad also travelled to Vietnam in 1959, the year after Vietnam’s president Ho Chi Minh visited India.
The India connection lives on in the Indira Gandhi Park in Hanoi. The park to honour the late prime minister, a close friend of Vietnam’s, was first near the Hoan Kiem lake and then moved to another lakeside park. A bust of the leader was unveiled in October 2007.
(Minu Jain can be contacted at minu.jain@ians.in)
- Nehru spirit prevails as Manmohan lands in Singapore (Second Lead) - Nov 19, 2011
- Vietnam, India mark 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations - Jan 05, 2012
- Indo-US chemistry, the Americanised Vietnam (Vietnam Diary) - Oct 30, 2010
- Singapore honours Nehru as friend, visionary - Nov 20, 2011
- Vietnamese man opens plane's emergency exit on runway - Nov 07, 2011
- PM meets Clinton, three prime ministers - Oct 30, 2010
- Vietnam capital Hanoi turns millennium-old - Oct 01, 2010
- With China on mind, Krishna heads to Vietnam - Sep 13, 2011
- New Year celebrations begin in Australia, New Zealand - Dec 31, 2010
- Manmohan Singh arrives in Vietnam - Oct 28, 2010
- Honour for Nehru is honour for India: Manmohan Singh - Nov 20, 2011
- Vietnam to build space centre by 2018 - Nov 17, 2011
- Army Chief to visit Vietnam - Jul 21, 2010
- Jolie's son spends time with grandmother - Nov 23, 2011
- Now, for economic pacts with Indonesia, Thailand - Oct 28, 2010
Tags: asean summit, connecti, corporate houses, fairy lights, former prime minister, ho chi minh, hoan kiem lake, hong kong and shanghai bank, indian prime minister, indian prime minister manmohan singh, jawaharlal nehru, manmohan singh, millennial celebrations, prime minister jawaharlal, prime minister manmohan, prime minister manmohan singh, rajendra prasad, serene charm, vietnam capital, vietnam diary