Holy Mother Temple - a spiritual tourist destination at the northernmost point of the country

On the journey to the heritage land and discover the unique and distinctive features of Mong Cai tourism , especially spiritual tourism, tourists should visit and admire the Holy Mother Temple in Tra Co ward, a traditional beauty in the pure Vietnamese Mother worship belief of Vietnam. In 2023, the Holy Mother Temple was ranked as a provincial historical relic by the Provincial People's Committee.

In the past, people came to the Holy Mother Temple to pray for calm seas, safe sailing, and bountiful harvests. Today, people and tourists come to the temple not only to perform spiritual rituals but also to sightsee and find peace and relaxation for their souls. Passing through the main gate, visitors enter a large yard with an ancient cotton tree with a wide canopy. Every year in March, the cotton tree blooms and lights up a corner of the sky. In front of the temple is a shrine to the Mother, in front is a fish pond, in the distance are vast rows of cool green bamboo trees reflecting on the shrimp and fish ponds of fishermen.

Mother Goddess procession ceremony in the 2023 Mother Goddess Temple festival. — The ritual of carrying the statue of the Mother Goddess around the village during the 2023 Mother Goddess Temple Festival.

Legend has it that the temple is thousands of years old, closely connected to the land and people of the country's border. In the past, the temple was just a small hermitage in an ancient chay forest. According to legend, a statue floated in from the sea, and the local people found it strange so they brought it in and built a temple to worship it. In addition to worshiping Thien Hau Thanh Mau, the temple also has an altar to worship the four mothers. Over the course of time, the chay forest no longer exists, the only traces of the chay forest are a few ancient chay trees in the temple yard, including a 700-year-old heritage tree. Over time, the temple was restored, spacious and located on a majestic piece of land as it is today.

Along with the ancient chay tree, in the temple grounds there is also a Fairy Well that is full of water all year round. According to the temple keeper, the temple area is an estuary so the water is brackish, people cannot use well water for drinking, but the water from the well in the temple yard is sweet, cool all year round, and never dries up, so it is called the Fairy Well. According to the elders in the village, from ancient times until now, people often come to the Fairy Well to get water to make tea, drinking it makes them feel alert, refreshed, and healthy.

The main festival of the Holy Mother Temple takes place on the 23rd day of the third lunar month every year. Legend has it that this is the birthday of the Holy Mother Thien Hau. On the morning of the main festival day, local people hold a procession of the Holy Mother around the village, praying for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, good health, good crops, and boats full of fish and shrimp.

During the festival, the children of Tra Co homeland from all over the country and visitors from all over the world respectfully prepare offerings to Thien Hau Thanh Mau. At the same time, many cultural activities and flower-offering dances are organized, imbued with the culture of the Vietnamese people in coastal areas.

This summer, visitors should come to Tra Co to enjoy spiritual tourism in Mong Cai city with many famous places such as Xa Tac temple, Xuan Lan pagoda, Linh Son pagoda, Tra Co communal house, Binh Ngoc communal house, etc. to worship and explore the unique Vietnamese culture at the headland of the Fatherland.

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