Sacred ancient temple of Nghe An worshiping King Chieu Trung Le Khoi

02/17/2024 | 07:38

TPO - Mai Bang Temple is said to be sacred, so on the full moon day and the first day of the month, local people come to burn incense. Especially, before deciding on a big event for the family, children or preparing to go to sea... local people come to the temple to burn incense and pray.

Mai Bang Temple is located in Nghi Thuy Ward (Cua Lo Town, Nghe An Province). According to the village elders, Mai Bang Temple was built in 1780, at that time it was just a thatched roof room.

During the Nguyen Dynasty, Mai Bang Temple was renovated on a large scale, including the upper hall, middle hall and lower hall, with a Tam-shaped layout. The temple has a land area of about 2,500 square meters.

According to historical records, Mai Bang Temple was built during the Le Trung Hung period to worship Chieu Trung Dai Vuong Le Khoi, Che Thang Phu Nhan Nguyen Thi Bich Chau, Thuy Tinh Phu Nhan and 6 founders of the village. For the people here, these people created life and protected the residents of the sea and agriculture, and encouraged learning to broaden the people's knowledge.

Le Khoi was the son of Le Tru, the nephew of Le Loi, from Lam Son village (old Thanh Hoa town). He joined the Lam Son insurgents, achieved many feats and held many positions. In 1446, to protect the southern border of Dai Viet, Le Khoi, along with Le Than and Nguyen Xi, led troops to attack Do Ban citadel and captured the Lord of Chiem, Bi Cai. On the way back, he fell ill and died on the 3rd day of the 5th lunar month. The King mourned him, adjourned the court for 3 days and asked the local people to build a temple to worship him.

Nguyen Thi Bich Chau was from Bao Loc village (Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh ). In 1373, she was recruited by King Tran Due Tong as a concubine and later promoted to a noble concubine. Facing the danger of the Tran Dynasty's collapse, she presented the King with "Ke Minh Thap Sach" to pacify the people and govern the country. In 1377, she followed King Tran Due Tong to fight Champa. When she reached Ky La sea (Ky Anh), there was a storm. Many ships carrying soldiers were sunk. That night, the King dreamed that Giao Long came and asked the King to give her a concubine to be his wife. The King asked the concubines for their opinions, but they were all afraid and refused. Only the noble concubine accepted. After the concubine voluntarily threw herself into the sea, the waves suddenly calmed down, the sea was calm, and the Tran Dynasty's military ships passed through easily. After her death, she appeared many times to help the people, so she was honored by the people as a Goddess of Fortune and was granted the title of Che Thang Phu Nhan by the feudal dynasties.

Thuy Tinh Phu Nhan is the goddess who governs the river region and protects fishermen. The six founders of the village are Tran, Hoang, Vo, Le, Nguyen, and Pham.

Over a long period of time, the temple was degraded, so in 2004, the people contributed their efforts to restore the lower temple. In 2007, the three-entrance gate and the upper temple were restored with funding from Nghi Thuy Ward People's Committee combined with donations. Since then, cultural activities at the temple have been restored as before.

The temple roof is decorated with many dragon statues showing majesty and sacredness.

The two sides of the temple are also decorated with many strange shapes.

The temple has a large, airy campus, which is a good facility for traditional ceremonies. The temple still preserves the original central hall and many valuable ancient sacrificial objects such as incense tables, altars, parallel sentences, large characters, thrones, tablets, incense burners, trays of offerings... meticulously carved by ancient artisans, with high-level techniques, creating beautiful, vivid paintings.

Through the worshiped characters and artifacts, parallel sentences, large characters, royal decrees, tablets, especially 13 extremely valuable original royal decrees, which are original documents to help future generations research the historical stages of Mai Bang village, it is proof of the long-standing existence of the temple, contributing to educating the tradition of patriotism for the younger generation.

The stone stele placed in the temple grounds records the history and ancient stories for people to understand clearly.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tan (72 years old, Mai Bang Temple Keeper) said that every year, Mai Bang Temple holds two major festivals on February 12 (lunar calendar) and May 3 (lunar calendar), but only once every three years. The first festival of the year on February 12 (lunar calendar) is the founding day of the village, and is also an occasion for praying for fish, when villagers gather together and organize solemn ritual activities. On the occasion of the festival on May 3 (lunar calendar) commemorating the death anniversary of Chieu Trung Dai Vuong Le Khoi, people organize a palanquin procession and worship the gods.

Mai Bang Temple keeper Nguyen Thanh Tan said that the temple is very sacred, so on the full moon and the first day of the month, local people often come to burn incense. Especially, before deciding on a big event such as: going far away, children taking university or college entrance exams, getting married or preparing to go to sea...), local people come to the temple to burn incense and pray for everything to go smoothly and be lucky.

In 2012, Mai Bang Temple was recognized as a provincial historical relic by the People's Committee of Nghe An province. In 2016, Mai Bang Temple was recognized as a national historical relic.

Ngoc Tu - Canh Hue

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