Receiving the Certificate of ranking as a provincial historical relic of Khe Sat Temple (Con Cuong)

Attending the ceremony were comrade Pham Trong Hoang - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of the Provincial Party Inspection Committee; comrades of the Provincial Party Executive Committee: Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Tran Thi My Hanh - Director of the Department of Culture and Sports; Representative of the Monument Management Board of Nghe An province; leaders of Con Cuong district, representatives of leaders of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Anh Son, Do Luong districts... and a large number of people and tourists from all over.

After the procession of the diploma from the District People's Committee to Khe Sat Temple with the participation of hundreds of people and students, there was a 30-minute epic performance imbued with the cultural identity of ethnic groups, elaborately invested with the participation of many extras reenacting the great contributions of His Majesty Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang - the 8th Prince of King Ly Thai To, born in the year of Mau Ty (988) in Hoa Lu Capital (present-day Ninh Binh).

The speech at the ceremony emphasized: He was a person well-versed in the scriptures, both literary and martial. In 1039, he was sent by King Ly Thai Tong to Nghe An to take care of tax collection. In 1041, he was appointed as the Governor of Nghe An and was given the title of Uy Minh Marquis. From here, the career of Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang was truly attached to the land and people of Nghe An.

During his 16 years as the Governor of Nghe An (1041 - 1057), Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang made many great contributions to the land of Nghe An in the fields of politics, society, economy, military... Especially, with the people of Cu Don area (present-day Con Cuong), Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang paid attention and focused on implementing many measures, "changing the skin" of an entire land. That was the merit of reclaiming land and establishing villages. The remaining historical traces show that, in addition to Khe Diem area, many places in this area were also exploited such as Khe Choang area (now Chau Khe commune), Khe Thoi (now Lang Khe commune)...

To commemorate the great contributions of Uy Minh Vuong Ly Nhat Quang, people in many places in Con Cuong and neighboring areas built temples to worship him as the village's tutelary god. At Khe Sat temple, they also worship Dong Chinh Vuong, Duc Thanh Vuong, the village's tutelary god, the mother of the Four Palaces and a number of Buddhas.

Khe Sat Temple was built hundreds of years ago, including two worshiping halls and a sanctuary, in addition to a gate, a mandarin's tower, a mandarin's tower... By the 1960s, the temple was abandoned. In 2012, people from all over donated money and effort to restore the sanctuary and in 2017 continued to restore the worshiping hall.

At the ceremony, the Provincial People's Committee announced the decision to recognize Khe Sat Temple as a provincial historical relic. After the ceremony, there was a festival with men's volleyball tournaments and folk games such as crossbow shooting, throwing balls, tug of war, stick pushing, etc.

The ceremony to receive the Provincial Historical Relic Certificate for Khe Sat Temple is the basis for Con Cuong district to continue to protect and promote the values ​​of relics and cultural heritages, thereby having many activities for the annual Khe Sat Temple Festival. Along with the National Historical Relic of Bia Ma Nhai, the National Revolutionary Historical Relic of Vi Van Khang's House, the evidence of Tra Lan Citadel in the great victory of Le Loi's Insurgent Army created "Tra Lan land of split bamboo, flying ash" along with famous landscapes such as Khe Kem waterfall, Moc stream... will become attractive destinations for tourists from all over the world when coming to Con Cuong./.