Cua Luy Temple - the pride of Anh Son land

(Baonghean.vn) - In Hoa Son commune, Anh Son district, there is a temple nestled at the foot of a rocky mountain with a quiet, mossy appearance. In front of the temple is a range of rocky mountains running along the West. Perhaps, located at the connecting position between two mountain ranges like a natural rampart, the temple is named Cua Luy?

For generations, Cua Luy Temple has always been the pride of the people of Hoa Son land. And that pride has been multiplied when recently, the temple was recognized as a historical-cultural relic by the People's Committee of Nghe An province.

According to existing documents, Cua Luy Temple was built by the local people in the 15th century. During the Lam Son Uprising, after leading the insurgents along the upper route into Nghe An and quickly capturing Tra Lan citadel (present-day Con Cuong area), Le Loi sent a general named Vuong to lead an army across the Ca River to guard the Kim Nhan mountain area (present-day Anh Son district). This was a dangerous mountainous area with only a few entrances and exits, of which Cua Luy was the most important location.



Cua Luy Temple stands silently at the foot of a high mountain.

Due to the arduous journey, the poor living conditions, the constant fighting with the enemy, and the unsuitability of the land and water, many soldiers fell ill, and epidemics often broke out in the barracks. Under the command of General Vuong, there was a female doctor who loved the soldiers with all her heart, tried her best to take care of them and advised them to take care of their health. To have enough medicine to cure everyone, many days, regardless of rain or wind, the female doctor was willing to go through the forest alone to find precious medicinal plants. One day, the female doctor went through the forest alone to find medicine, exhausted, she leaned against an old tree by the roadside to rest and never got up again.

Not seeing her return, the soldiers scattered in all directions to search for her. She was brought back to the barracks, lying quietly in a hammock, still holding tightly a handful of medicinal leaves. Deeply mourning the devoted female doctor, General Vuong ordered her to be buried in a field in the area, from then on the soldiers called it the tomb of the female doctor princess. One time, General Vuong and his soldiers went to visit the tomb, on the way they saw a white rabbit jumping out from the base of an old tree, running a few laps around the group of soldiers, then moving forward, raising its legs as if to block the way, then disappearing after a while. Realizing that this could be a bad omen, General Vuong ordered his soldiers to turn back and planned to patrol and guard carefully. The next morning, they captured a group of Ming army spies, who confessed that they had been ordered to assassinate General Vuong. General Vuong thought that the white rabbit was the female doctor princess who appeared to save his life, so he ordered his soldiers to build a temple right under the ancient tree where the white rabbit appeared and named the temple Luy Son (people used to call it Cua Luy Temple). From then on, soldiers and people used to call her Bach Y Princess.

When General Vuong passed away, soldiers and people built a temple on a mound not far from Cua Luy Temple and called it Duc Vuong Temple (also known as Duc Ong Temple). Later, because Duc Vuong Temple was surrounded by swamps, making it inconvenient to travel and burn incense, people brought his tablet to worship at Cua Luy Temple. According to ancient stories, the female physician was later honored by King Minh Mang as the Holy Mother of Luy Son, and by King Khai Dinh as the Divine Protector of the Restoration of the Supreme God. Cua Luy Temple is very sacred, so incense smoke billows all year round. In particular, anyone whose family member is sick and comes to pray for help is helped by the Holy Mother.

During the years when the US Air Force escalated its bombing of the North, Cua Luy Temple was repeatedly destroyed and severely damaged by bombs. Mrs. Tran Thi Chau, from Vinh City, evacuated here with her husband, who worked at a power plant. Hearing about the sacredness of the temple, she bought bamboo and hired people to re-roof it. When peace was restored, Mrs. Tran Thi Chau proceeded with the paperwork to ask relevant authorities and sectors to agree to restore Cua Luy Temple. The main source of funding for the temple's restoration was her family's donations.

It is known that Anh Son district is currently planning to renovate, embellish, upgrade and expand the scale of Cua Luy temple to be worthy of a historical-cultural relic and to meet the wishes of the people in the region.

Tuong Anh