Pu Nha Thau Temple - From Legend to Reality
According to legend, Princess La Binh, daughter of Son Tinh and My Nuong, granddaughter of King Hung, was a virtuous and talented person. She loved to travel around the mountains and forests to teach the people and help the village have a peaceful life. When she passed away, the people of 9 villages and 10 Muongs honored her as Mau Thuong Ngan (Mother of the mountains and forests) and built a temple to worship her in Na Luong village, Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district today.
In 1335, the retired Emperor Tran Minh Tong personally led the army to suppress the Ai Lao rebels and appointed Doan Nhu Hai (from Hoi Xuyen village, Tuong Lan district, Hong Chau route, now Gia Loc district - Hai Duong) as the Governor. Arriving at Nam Nhung land, belonging to Moc Chau (now Ky Son and Tuong Duong districts), the Tran general chose a high mountain in Na Luong village, Huu Kiem commune as his headquarters to both conveniently train soldiers and observe the enemy. The local people wholeheartedly supported the insurgents, willing to contribute labor, food and mobilize their children to join the insurgents.
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The procession of the mascot to Pu Nha Thau temple |
Here, there was an old woman who still encouraged her husband and children to join the battle, while she herself took on the job of supplying military provisions. The enemy tried to attack the headquarters, General Doan Nhu Hai ordered his troops to circle along the mountainside to the river junction to block the enemy. Here, Doan Nhu Hai sacrificed his life (at the Cua Rao junction, Tuong Duong district today, there is still a temple to worship him).
After Doan Nhu Hai died, the Tran Dynasty court was extremely sad and assigned the people of Nam Nhung hamlet to build a temple and hold a ceremony after the harvest. At that time, the mother who raised the army was no longer there. In recognition of the great contributions of the Tran Dynasty General and the mother who raised the army, the people of Na Luong village built a temple to worship them and worship them together with the Mother of the Upper Realm. Since then, the people of the villages have burned incense all year round and have called it the Tran Dynasty Temple or Pu Nha Thau Temple (temple of the Old Lady Mountain).
According to legend, during the resistance war against the Ming army, Le Loi led the insurgents from Thanh Hoa along the upper road to Tra Lan. Passing the temple, the gods appeared in a dream to help the insurgents defeat the enemy. When Tra Lan citadel was captured, the Lam Son insurgents and the people held a thanksgiving ceremony at the temple.
After many changes of time, the temple has been restored but the scale is still quite modest and every year a worship ceremony is held at the end of the harvest season. Coming to the Pu Nha Thau Temple Festival this year, in addition to the joy after a year of hard work, being able to hold a worship ceremony and have fun, there is also the joy that the temple has been recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a Historical-Cultural Relic.
This is the legal basis for relevant levels, sectors and people to organize the restoration, expansion of the temple scale and upgrade the festival in the coming year. Then, Pu Nha Thau Temple will be rebuilt spaciously, worthy of the merits of the gods worshiped in the temple. And Pu Nha Thau Temple festival will be a spiritual destination for all people in the Southwest of Nghe An and tourists from all over.
Cong Kien