The ancient beauty of the sacred temple associated with the 'Decade of Events' Festival
Huy Thu•April 20, 2024 07:07
(Baonghean.vn) - Located along the Lam River, the temple of Thai Pho Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan in Trang Son commune (Do Luong district) is a national historical and cultural relic associated with the unique "Decade of Regrets" Festival.
Grand Tutor of Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan (1521-1576) is a historical figure who made great contributions to the country during the Le Dynasty. After his death, the royal court ordered the construction of a temple in Trang Son commune (Do Luong district). The temple is located on the bank of Lam River with a beautiful landscape. Photo: Huy ThuThe temple of Thai Pho Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan is one of the most important historical relics of the Nguyen Canh family and is the main place of worship of Duc Thai Pho Thanh. Photo: Huy ThuAfter more than 400 years of existence, the temple of Thai Pho Tan Quoc Cong has been restored and embellished many times. The most recent construction started in 2023. Currently, on an area of more than 13,000 m2, the relic has many structures such as the main gate, three-door gate, stele house, lower, middle, upper halls, left and right wings, festival house, votive paper burning house, management house... In the photo: The main gate and three-door gate of the temple facing Lam River. Photo: Huy ThuBehind the main gate are two newly renovated stele houses. In the stele house on the left (looking from the outside) is where an ancient stele with Chinese characters engraved on it speaks about the merits and career of the Grand Tutor of Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan. In the stele house on the right is a stone stele engraved with his last poem. The content of the poem expresses the famous general's patriotism and love for the people. Photo: Huy ThuThe lower hall is a five-room house built in traditional architecture. The two side walls of the lower hall are attached to two pillars with parallel sentences and majestic lions above. Photo: Huy ThuOn both sides (in front) of the lower temple are statues of elephants and horses standing in attendance, each side has 1 horse and 9 elephants. According to the temple management board, the 18 elephants have symbolic meaning. The number 18 refers to the 18 dukes of the Nguyen Canh family. Photo: Huy ThuThe central palace is a five-room house. The front of the house is painted and decorated with many vivid images of dragons and clouds. The central palace is the place to worship three dukes of the Nguyen Canh family, including Thu duke Nguyen Canh Kien, Thang duke Nguyen Canh Ha, Lieu duke Nguyen Canh Que... Photo: Huy ThuThe upper hall is a two-room house lying along the main hall. The wooden frame of the upper hall is elaborately carved. This is the shrine to the Grand Tutor of Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan. Photo: Huy ThuThe beautiful "phoenix holding a letter" sculpture is carved on the lower beam of the upper hall. Photo: Huy ThuAt the temple of Thai Pho Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan, there are still many ancient sacrificial objects and artifacts such as the throne, dragon palanquin, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, royal decrees... The temple was ranked as a National Historical and Cultural Relic in 1991. In the photo: A unique ancient palanquin is being kept at the temple. Photo: Huy ThuEvery year, the temple holds the death anniversary of the Grand Tutor Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan on the 15th day of the 9th lunar month; every 10 years, the festival is held once in the spring called "Thac nien su le", "Chay festival".... The "Thac nien su le" festival has been maintained by the Nguyen Canh family for hundreds of years, and was recently included by the State in the list of National Intangible Heritage. This year, this unique festival takes place for 3 days (April 21-23, or March 13-15 of the lunar calendar) with many special contents: the god worship ceremony, the prayer ceremony, the god procession, the poetry night "Nguyen Canh thi tap", the art program "Sang mai bai ca truyen truyen truyen", sports activities such as volleyball, tug of war, martial arts performances,... Up to this point, all preparations for the festival have been completed. Photo: Huy Thu
Temple of the Grand Tutor of Tan Quoc Cong Nguyen Canh Hoan. Video: Huy Thu
