The 340-year-old heritage mango tree in Ca Mau is associated with the legend of the three-legged tiger.

An ancient mango tree, over 340 years old, remains lush and provides shade for centuries. Not only is it recognized as a Vietnamese Heritage Tree, but this "elderly" mango tree is also associated with a folk legend about a three-legged tiger, attracting many tourists.

This mango tree, over 340 years old, requires about five people to encircle it completely - Photo: THANH HUYEN

The largest mango tree in the Mekong Delta region, growing in saline coastal soil.

Located in Tay B hamlet, Hiep Thanh ward ( Ca Mau province ), this ancient mango tree is nearly 20 meters tall, with a canopy spreading over 300 square meters, providing shade to a large area. The trunk has a diameter of over 2 meters, requiring five adults to encircle it. Despite enduring hundreds of years of rain and sun, the mango tree continues to thrive, its leaves remaining green year-round.

The mango tree attracts many tourists, especially during holidays and Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year).

According to documents from the former Bac Lieu Provincial Museum, around 1680, the family of Mr. Ly Ky Kia's parents – Chinese migrants from the Ming Dynasty – moved to the coastal area now belonging to Hiep Thanh ward to live.

Upon arrival, they discovered a large mango tree, its trunk thicker than a person could embrace, its canopy wide, and its age considerable. Mr. Kia's family subsequently cared for and preserved the tree for generations.

Based on this timeline, the mango tree is now over 340 years old, considered the oldest mango tree in Bac Lieu in the past and possibly the largest mango tree in the Mekong Delta region.

The mango tree, with its wide canopy, thrives in an arid area yet remains lush and green.

What's remarkable is that this mango tree grows in a saline coastal area. According to locals, there's a freshwater spring at the base of the tree. In the past, people dug holes to collect water for daily use, which allowed the mango tree to thrive for centuries.

Despite being over 300 years old, the mango tree still flowers and bears abundant fruit every year. The mangoes are small, only about the size of a toad or a fist, so locals call them toad mangoes or forest mangoes. When unripe, the fruit is very sour, but when ripe it has a sweet and sour taste and a distinctive aroma.

Legend of the three-legged tiger and folk beliefs

Besides its rare biological value, the ancient mango tree is also closely associated with the spiritual life of the local people through the legend of the three-legged tiger.

According to the elders, in the late 17th century, this area was still a wild, densely populated forest, and tigers frequently appeared, harming people and livestock.

The tree, about a few meters tall, sprouts many branches that provide shade over a large area.

To pray for peace, the village elders erected a shrine under a mango tree and held a ceremony to worship the "tiger god" on the 28th day of the 7th lunar month every year. Initially, the offering was a live pig. Later, when the tiger was believed to have lost a leg after being caught in a trap, the villagers offered a pre-prepared pig instead.

Mr. La Van Lu (73 years old, Tay B hamlet, Hiep Thanh ward) - the person directly in charge of looking after and caring for the mango tree - said that since he was a child he had heard his grandmother tell this legend.

"There were five villagers who brought pigs to offer as sacrifices, but before they could do so, someone stole them. That night, a tiger came to the thief's house, circling around and growling fiercely. Terrified, the thief had to buy another pig to return. Since then, no one has dared to disturb the sacrificial ceremony again," Mr. Lu recounted.

Later, when tigers were no longer seen, the people only offered a boiled pig's head as a sacrifice. This ritual gradually became a folk belief, maintained annually as a way to remember and pray for a peaceful life.

Since being recognized as a Heritage Tree, the mango tree has received "special care" to prevent pests and diseases.

Due to its exceptional age and size, in 2015, the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Nature and Environment took bark samples for analysis and recognized this mango tree as a Vietnamese Heritage Tree. Since then, the local authorities have installed signposts, and many tourists have come to visit, especially during holidays and Tet (Vietnamese New Year).

Currently, Hiep Thanh ward is proposing an investment of billions of VND to build and restore the heritage mango tree area, aiming for long-term preservation and promotion of the cultural and tourism value of a rare "living heritage" in the southernmost part of the country.

THANH HUYEN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cay-xoai-di-san-hon-340-nam-o-ca-mau-gan-voi-truyen-thuyet-ho-ba-chan-20260214202047131.htm