Admire the beautiful sculptures of Chay Temple

Chay Communal House was built in the 19th century to worship the village's tutelary god Cao Son - Cao Cac, and also to worship General Quan Luong who helped King Le fight the Ming invaders; and to worship the founder of ca tru Tran Duc Chinh. In the past, the communal house was a place for community activities of the people of Yen Ly Ngoai village, Yen Ly commune. Today, the communal house is located in a densely populated area and is the meeting hall of hamlet 6, Dien Yen commune. Photo: Huy Thu

Chay Communal House has a rather massive architecture, consisting of 5 lim wood compartments designed in the style of "stacked beams, stacked beams", "fake beams" with an airy space. In particular, the wooden frame of the communal house is elaborately carved, creating unique works of art. Photo: Huy Thu

Of the 6 pillars of the communal house, the 2 main pillars focus on expressing many traditional themes. In the photo: The main pillar opposite the main entrance of the communal house, the upper part is carved with a vivid image of a dragon playing with a dragon horse, the lower part is carved with 3 large Chinese characters: Chieu - Ky - Van. Photo: Huy Thu

The center of the relief is the image of a dragon rolling in the clouds with a high, sharp head, with a beard and mane fluttering in the wind. On both sides are images of a dragon horse, carp, and lotus flowers, creating a majestic beauty. Photo: Huy Thu

The roof truss above the entrance of the communal house is carved with high density. The top part of the roof truss is the image of "Tiger holding the word longevity", below is the image of "Two dragons facing the moon". The center of the roof truss is the image of a phoenix spreading its wings. Many details on the roof truss are decorated with quite vivid patterns, flowers and leaves... Photo: Huy Thu

At Chay communal house, the phoenix image is present in many wooden structures, but the phoenix image on the rafters is quite unique with its large size, high head, wide open eyes, spread wings, and sturdy, sharp legs. Photo: Huy Thu

"Lien quy" is an image often depicted on ancient architectural works, however the image of lotus and turtle on Chay communal house has a rare soft beauty. The image of a turtle with a shell clearly printed with shapes protruding its head in the middle of a lotus pond with flowers and leaves, covered by a lotus mirror is quite impressive. Photo: Huy Thu

The middle rafters of Chay communal house clearly show the structure of "stacked beams and braces", "stacked false beams"... of ancient wooden house architecture. The intersections of the beams, rafters, braces... are carved with stylized images of flowers, leaves, clouds..., making the frame of the communal house elegant. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Le Huu Nghiem (65 years old) - Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell of Hamlet 6, Dien Yen Commune, a person with a lot of knowledge about Chay Communal House, shared: Chay Communal House was built in 1856, the communal house's inscription reads "Tu Duc cuu nien, Binh Thin ngu nguyet, bat nguyet hoan thanh" (The communal house started construction in May, completed in August, Tu Duc 9th year). During the resistance against the French, the communal house was burned down, so the locals called it Chay Communal House. Photo: Huy Thu

Not only is the wooden sculpture unique, on Chay communal house, many reliefs are embossed with lime mortar, porcelain pieces, depicting traditional themes such as tiger faces, images of dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns, which are also quite unique. Due to the impact of nature, these reliefs have been more or less damaged. Currently, Chay communal house has two main functions: a place to worship gods and a meeting hall for the village. Existing for hundreds of years, the ancient communal house is the pride of the local people. Photo: Huy Thu