Admire the unique sculptures of the 360-year-old village temple

The Upper Temple is located in the center of the ancient Trung Kien village (Hoang Lao), now Chua 2 hamlet, Nghi Thiet commune. According to the village's "four-sided stele", the temple was built in 1657 to worship the four Holy Ladies and gods who have contributed to the people and the country.

The temple consists of two buildings: the lower hall and the upper hall. The lower hall, also known as the singing and dancing hall, is built in a three-compartment four-pillar style with 16 columns and a gong-rack structure.

Local elders said that the ironwood frame of the lower hall was once carved with beautiful dragons, phoenixes, flowers, clouds, etc., but in a fire in 1972, all these details were burned. In 2018, during the restoration process, the Monument Management Board kept the wooden frame intact, only "covering" the outside of the columns, beams, and rafters with a layer of protective compound.

The upper temple is also a 3-room, 16-column ironwood house built in the four-pillar style, but on the wooden frame, from the rafters, beams, and lower beams... there are still unique carvings of the ancients.

On the beams and columns are sharp carvings of images such as turtles carrying altars, phoenixes holding books, etc.

In particular, on the beams in the middle of the upper hall, there are carvings of two dragons facing the moon, along with clouds and rain. This is one of the most unique works in the Upper Temple, demonstrating the carving skills of ancient artisans.

After hundreds of years of existence, Thuong Temple still exists as an important spiritual place for the people of the coastal village and is being embellished more and more beautifully. In 2018, the people of the hamlets of the old Trung Kien village, together with benefactors, donated nearly 2 billion VND to restore Thuong Temple. Thuong Temple was recognized as a National Historical, Cultural and Architectural Monument in 1992.