Some unique temples

The temple is located upstairs of the house numbered 82 Hang Trong Street, Ha Noi to worship a Ca Tru singer who was willing to help people.

The story goes that a famous Ca Tru singer in Cuu Lau Village was married to a mandarin and gave birth to a daughter named Nguyen Thi Hue. Hue had special singing talent, was beautiful and intelligent. At age 21, she was caught in the eye of Lord Trinh Cuong and the  he gave her the title of Mrs. Ngoc Kieu.

One year, Thang Long was pandemic, and she saved a lot of people thanks to her father passed drugs.

Later, she was tonsured to become a nun at the temple in Cuu Lau Village and died at the age of 71. She was worshiped as Dong Huong Goddess there.

There is also another legend for the temple. According to it, during the Le Dynasty, the Ming aggressors attempted to occupy our country. A beautiful talented Ca Tru singer cleverly tricked the invaders to get into sleeping bags to avoid mosquitoes, and then threw down the river to kill. When King Le Thai To defeated Minh aggressors, he considered her merit and build Ta Vong Temple, which is now Hang Trong Temple, to worship.

In the past, the temple was devoted to exhibitions of famous Hang Trong paintings and hosted Ca Tru contests.

Phuc Hau Temple

It is located in the house numbered 2 Hang Bong Street and it seemed that nobody noticed the temple because it is too small, less than 4sq.m. Many people are shocked to hear it used to be a big communal house in Kim Co Village, Tho Xuong District.

The worshiped deity is a famous mirror maker, affectionately called the merciful hearted man because he is an expert in finding lost children to lead back to their families.

The temple is open only twice a month: from 29th to 1st and 14th to 16th by lunar calendar. Every morning, Nguyen Thi Kim Quy, the old temple keeper, cleans it up and incenses. Afterward, she closes the doors and went home quietly.

The temple is crowded on opening for lots of people come to pray for fortune and health. Especially, a lot of people come to pray for finding their lost children. When he was alive, he knew every corner of Thang Long and could find lost kids without difficulty.

According to the ordinance of the temple and the stone stele records, the Deity is named Tran Nhuan Dinh lived in the Tran dynasty (14th centuries). He got a doctorate and was sent to China to learn how to make mirror. He came home and became the first mirror maker in Viet Nam.

Fire Temple 

1,620 home fires occurred in Thang Long’s 27 western wards in 1828 and 1,400 house fires were registered in 1837 as most of houses there were made of bamboo and leaves. Therefore, in 1837, people decided to set up the Fire temple to plead the god of fire not to cause disasters anymore. Perhaps, this is the only temple god of fire in Viet Nam.

The street where the temple is located has remained the name Nha Hoa (fire house) until now. However, visitors must take a tiny alley in 30 Hang Dieu Street to get to the temple as the old path is congested with houses.

According to the legend, Vietnamese people worshiped two anti-fire gods namely Nam Phuong Xich De and Quang Hoa Ma Nguyen Suy. The latter was influenced by Buddhist thoughts in childhood. Later, he was reincarnated in the Phung family and became a fire professional. He was popularly worshiped as an anti-fire god.

These temples have dotted the common cultural spaces in Ha Noi and considered as interesting stops for visitors.

In the Old Quarter, there are still 85 works on religious beliefs including 54 communal houses, six pagodas, 22 temples and three shrines occupying a total 100ha area./.

                                                                                                                                                                By Song Mai