Small temple with great spiritual value

The Temple of Mother Thoai Ben Than (now in Group 8, Phan Dinh Phung Ward) is nestled along the poetic Cau River. Although the temple is small and the architecture is simple, it still has delicate features. For a long time, this small temple has held great spiritual value for the people here.

Ben Than Temple festival opens on January 9 every year.

According to folk beliefs, Mau Thoai is the holy mother who governs the river region. The word “Thoai” is a folk misreading of the word “thuy”, meaning water. Mau Thoai also has many other titles such as Tam Mau Thuy Cung, Xich Lan Cong Chua, Dong Dinh Cong Chua Than Nu, Thuy Tien Cong Chua, Thuy Cung Thanh Mau…

Mother Goddess worship is a special phenomenon in the beliefs of the ancient Vietnamese. The Vietnamese believe that the water palace is an illusory world that exists under the water surface wherever there are ponds, lakes, rivers, streams and oceans. The society there is the life of water gods, and they also have all the same relationships and behaviors as humans.

Mother Thoai is the representative of the Mother Goddess in the water realm, the divine being in harmony with the earthly realm, giving birth to the king who started the nation-building period in Vietnam, revered by the people and ranked as a saint in the worship of Mother Goddesses of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces. Perhaps this is the reason why the people of Ben Than built this small temple by the Cau River to show their respect to the "mother of water".

According to the elders in the area, Mau Thoai Temple has a history of hundreds of years. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, 93 years old, one of the long-time residents of Ben Than Street (now Group 8, Phan Dinh Phung Ward), said: The temple is a place of religious activities for the people in the area and has a very long history. However, due to the harshness of time and war, in 1982, the temple was completely destroyed. In 2009, to meet the wishes of the people, the local government agreed to let the people rebuild this temple.

Ben Than Temple was built on the old land, the campus is only over 100m2 wide. With items such as: the temple worshiping Mother Thoai, the tower worshiping Tu Phu Duc Thanh Co, Co Ban Temple and some other auxiliary works, the temple was invested in construction with a total budget of nearly 600 million VND, from socialized sources. The temple was constructed within only 9 months and completed in January 2010.

Ben Than Temple is a place to worship "mother water".

The temple is located in a very special location, the front of the temple faces the Cau River, the back is a crowded residential area. Every year, Ben Than Temple opens its festival on the 9th day of the first lunar month for visitors and locals to visit and worship. Almost every year, on the occasion of the beginning of spring, the festival is held with both ritual and festival parts.

In addition to offering incense and reading prayers for a year of favorable weather and wind, and for the Cau River to always be peaceful, the festival is organized with exciting activities such as lion dancing, playing folk games, etc. Some years, visitors can also take a cruise to enjoy the poetic scenery of the Cau River.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, a local resident, shared: In January 2010, the Ben Than Temple Festival was held again for the first time after 28 years of being completely demolished, and everyone was happy and excited. Since then, the festival has been held regularly every year, attracting the attention of many tourists from all over the world.

People in the old Ben Than street are always proud of this small temple. Ms. Tiet Thi Khanh, a resident living right next to the temple, confided: I am very proud that in the middle of a bustling urban area, my neighborhood still has a small, peaceful temple next to the poetic Cau River. After busy working days, many people in the neighborhood still come here to find tranquility at the temple's door.

In recent years, Ben Than Temple is not only a place for cultural and religious activities of local people, but also has valuable intangible cultural and religious values. In particular, in the spiritual and cultural tourism journey of many tourists, this temple is considered an attractive destination.

Every year, this place welcomes thousands of tourists from inside and outside the province to make pilgrimages to the temple to offer incense to the Mother Goddess, visit the landscape and pray for national peace and prosperity, a peaceful life, prosperity and happiness...

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202507/ngoi-den-nho-mang-gia-tri-tinh-than-lon-33b1ae2/