The temple worships the whale in Chau Thanh

Temple of the sea god and whale

The royal decree was enlarged and translated and placed in the communal house.

Vinh Thoi Communal House worships the goddess Dai Can - a popular deity in the Central region, especially among seafarers. According to Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu and O Chau Can Luc, the goddess Dai Can was originally a mortal who died in war and kept her chastity and drifted to the seaport of our country. Because of her divine presence and her contribution to King Tran, the king ordered the construction of a communal house to worship her and hold annual ceremonies. Under the Nguyen Dynasty, the goddess Dai Can was promoted and given many honorific titles such as Ham Hoang, Quang Dai, Chi Duc, Pho Bac, Hien Hoa, Trang Huy, Duc Bao Trung Hung Thuong Dang Than.

Tran Ngoc Dang, Deputy of the Board of Management of the Communal House - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi, Head of the Front Work Committee of Vinh Vien Hamlet, said: “Previously, this area was called Vinh Thoi village. The communal house worships the god Dai Can, while the people of Vinh Vien Hamlet have a traditional occupation of fishing, catching, and setting nets, so we believe that the ancestors were fishermen from the outside who came here to settle, reclaim land, establish villages, and develop traditional occupations.”

Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi is also the only communal house in Chau Thanh district that worships Whales. The communal house grounds are currently divided into two rooms: one room worships the God and the other is Lang Ong. That is also the reason why the communal house is called Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi. The area where Whales are worshiped has a small coffin placed on the altar. On both sides of the altar are the sail and rudder of a sea boat. On the altar, in front of the coffin is a small metal box containing a bone, which according to the locals is the spine of the Whale.

Head of the Management Board of Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi - Bui Van Ut said: "The whale's body was discovered by a merchant guest in the area of the red light pole on the Tra River. On the way back to the embankment passing by the communal house, they brought him ashore, and together with the local people, they placed him in a wooden coffin and worshiped him at the communal house. Later, when the communal house was restored, the people replaced the wooden coffin with a cement coffin until now."

A part of the spiritual life of the people of the hamlet forever

The stone coffin of the whale is worshiped at the Temple - Vinh Thoi Whale Tomb

About 1/3 of the households in Vinh Vien hamlet are fishermen, so they have a lot of faith in Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi. Every year, on the 10th of January, the majority of the people in the hamlet join hands and contribute to the organization of the ceremony.

Mr. Huynh Van Be Tu (Vinh Vien hamlet, Thanh Vinh Dong commune) used to be a fisherman fishing offshore in Vung Tau sea. He said that the Ong Lang worship ceremony is held at the beginning of the year for fishermen to come and worship, pray for peace, and hope to receive protection from the God and the Whale before starting a new year of fishing. Mr. Be Tu's family has a tradition of going to sea, so every year he is never absent from the worship ceremony.

Mr. Be Tu also joined the people in the surrounding area to prepare for the solemn and complete worship day of Ong Lang. Mr. Be Tu said: “People in this area, especially those who go to sea, respect Dinh Than - Ong Lang Vinh Thoi very much. That is the tradition and belief of the people for hundreds of years. Having also gone fishing offshore, I know that when you get on a boat to go far away, you must respect and trust.”

Not only meaningful to fishermen, Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi is also a place where farmers come to pray for favorable weather and bountiful crops. Like most other communal houses, Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi also has the custom of worshiping Ha Dien and Cau Bong in March and October every year.

Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi is closely associated with the establishment and development of the community in Vinh Vien hamlet in particular and Thanh Vinh Dong commune in general. It is trusted by local people and has become a part of the cultural and spiritual life of the people.

In mid-2023, with the sponsorship of benefactors, Dinh Than - Lang Ong Vinh Thoi was renovated to be spacious, with a large campus and a solemn worship space. In front of the communal house is a large yard, used as a place for cultural activities of the people in the hamlet. Mr. Tran Ngoc Dang said that the total cost of building the communal house is about 3 billion VND, of which the people in the hamlet contributed over 100 million VND, the rest was sponsored by benefactors./.

Guilin

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