The story of 'the crane returning to heaven' at Cuong temple

The mystery of the crane in the glass cabinet

Cuong Templewas ranked as a National Historical Relic in 1975. Currently, the temple is not only a historical and cultural relic, but is also recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a tourist destination. Every year, it welcomes tens of thousands of visitors to worship and visit.

One of the things that makes many tourists curious every time they visit Cuong Temple is the image of a large crane displayed in a glass cabinet, placed solemnly in the middle of the lower hall.

“Everyone in the area knows about the crane story. But people from far away don’t know, so they always ask, they are very curious. Every time like that, we put aside our work, sit down and tell them the story that happened 30 years ago,” said Mr. Cao Van Tran (79 years old), one of the incense keepers at Cuong Temple.

Mr. Tran said that on the opening day of the Cuong Temple Festival in 1995, when thousands of people were gathered around to watch the horse riding parade on the opening day of the festival, suddenly a very large white crane flew over and landed on a disabled person in a wheelchair watching the festival in the temple yard.

“At that time, it was exactly the 20th anniversary of the day Cuong Temple was ranked as a National Historical Relic, so the festival was quite big, with a lot of people coming to watch,” Mr. Tran said, adding that the strange thing was that this crane did not show any fear even though there were a lot of people surrounding it. The crane even played with many people.

“In the following days, the crane often perched in the sacred place in the temple. Because the bird refused to fly away, the temple management board had to keep it and feed it every day. However, about 3 months later, the crane gradually weakened and died. The temple management board brought the bird’s body to Hanoi, stuffed it, preserved it, and returned it to Cuong temple,” said Mr. Tran.

Since then, this crane has been preserved in a glass cabinet, displayed in the lower palace. Mr. Tran also said that when the crane was alive, each of its wings spanned 1.5 meters and weighed about 12kg.

Mr. Tran also said that one year later, on the same day as the Cuong Temple Festival, people discovered a very large whale drifting to the shore of Cua Hien, right behind Cuong Temple. The whale's body was then held a ceremony by the local authorities and local people and buried near the shore. In the following years, occasionally another pair of whales swam near this shore, and once they even got stranded. The local authorities had to rescue them and use a boat to pull the whale away.

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Because of the strange things that happened during the temple festival, many people believed that the crane was My Chau incarnated to join the festival with everyone. The dead whale washed ashore was proof of An Duong Vuong's tragic suicide.

Mr. Cao Van Tran - head priest at Cuong temple

Ready for the holiday season

Cuong Temple, also known as An Duong Vuong Temple, is located on Mo Da Mountain, right next to National Highway 1A, passing through Dien An Commune (Dien Chau District). According to legend, after receiving help from the Golden Turtle God to build the citadel and make the magic crossbow, An Duong Vuong was completely off guard and fell into Trieu Da's trap. In 208 BC, after capturing the magic crossbow, Trieu Da sent troops to attack Au Lac by surprise. King An Duong Vuong was defeated and had to retreat to the South. When he reached Mo Da Mountain - where the coast was blocking the way, the road was cut off, and there was no sign of anyone on the ferry. At the end of his rope, the king killed Princess My Chau and threw himself into the sea...

To commemorate King An Duong Vuong, after his death, the people of this area built a temple to worship him in Cua Hien. According to the elders in the area, the temple was originally called Cong Temple, because Mo Da Mountain used to be an ancient forest, with many peacocks flying here to live. In addition, Mo Da Mountain, from afar, looks like a giant dancing peacock, the head of the bird is where the temple is located. Not only is it a sacred relic, the temple is also a famous place because of the harmonious combination of architecture and natural scenery. The temple is located on the back of Mo Da Mountain, on the mountain is a vast pine forest, behind the mountain is the sea.

According to Mr. Dao Hong Thanh - Head of the Department of Culture of Dien Chau district, Head of the Management Board of Cuong Temple Relics, the stories of cranes flying down to the temple and refusing to leave and large whales washing up behind the temple on the right occasion of the festival make the temple even more mysterious. "Currently, the cranes are displayed in a solemn place. As for the whale's body, a mausoleum has also been built for burial, and local people regularly come to burn incense," said Mr. Thanh.

The 2025 Cuong Temple Festival will take place over 4 days, from March 11 to March 15 (February 12 - February 16 of the lunar calendar). The opening ceremony will take place on the evening of March 12. As usual, the festival includes 8 important rituals, such as the Opening Ceremony, the King and Princess Procession, the Great Ceremony... In addition, the festival will have many unique cultural and sports activities such as art performances, Ca Tru performances, Vi Giam folk songs, elegant youth competitions, volleyball, and traditional folk games.

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This year, Dien Chau district has made strong investments to enhance the Cuong Temple Festival, such as installing large LED screens and arranging more photo spaces for visitors. In particular, we also invited many localities in the province to participate in displaying OCOP products, contributing to promoting local culture and specialties.

Mr. Dao Hong Thanh - Head of Dien Chau District Culture Department, Head of Cuong Temple Relic Management Board