Lốt Temple
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011. Classification of the relic
Lốt Temple was classified at the City level under Decision No. 6232/QĐ-UBND dated December 6, 2023, of the Hà Nội City People's Committee
022. Historical events, figures, and characteristics of the relic
032.1. Regarding the figures worshipped at Lốt Temple
Elders and local people say that Lốt Temple worships the Three Great Kings of the Hùng Vương era and the Lady, Princess Liên Hoa and Princess Hậu Hoa of the Đinh dynasty (figures associated with Quèn Citadel in Quốc Oai District).
Regarding the Three Great Kings:
The village officials' declaration to the École française d'Extrême-Orient in 1938 records:
Their titles were Triều, Thần, and Gia. The one who gave them birth was Hùng Chiếu Công, a grandson of King Hùng Vương, who served as an official in An Sơn District. He settled at Đại Phu Hamlet, Liệp Tuyết Village, and married Nguyễn Kim Nương from Vĩnh Phúc Hamlet. After ten years of pregnancy, she gave birth to a single sac containing three children on the 12th day of the fifth month of the Nhâm Thìn year; the sac opened to reveal three sons, all of unusual appearance. At the time of birth, a fragrant auspicious vapor spread out. Hùng Chiếu Công, recalling the matter in a dream, named his sons Triều Lang, Thần Lang, and Gia Lang. When the children were three years old, he was summoned to court to meet the king. The king learned that this was the Water Deity coming into the world and had them live in the palace. The three brothers were naturally intelligent, so after only a few years of study they thoroughly understood literature, were well versed in Confucian learning, and were highly skilled in martial arts. When Hùng Chiếu Công was 74, he died; two years later his wife also died.
When the Ân invaders attacked, the three brothers were assigned to recruit talented people to fight the enemy. Upon reaching Phù Đổng Village, they met Thiết Xung (Thánh Gióng) and recruited him to fight the Ân invaders; later they won victory. Thánh Gióng flew up to heaven, while the three men were rewarded by the king but declined, asking only to return to Đại Phu Palace in Liệp Hạ Estate, Yên Sơn District, where they had previously lived. From then on, the three lived in Đại Phu and Vĩnh Phúc camps and taught the people to cultivate crops.
Once, the three lords traveled to Mao Khê at Tản Viên Mountain. Suddenly, wind and rain rose violently, stream water rushed strongly, and dragons and serpents emerged; the three men went down into the stream and passed away there. That was the 10th day of the seventh month. The people reported it to the king, and the king immediately conferred additional titles on the three lords.
The legends of these lords include investiture edicts and titles
On their birthday, offerings of buffalo and oxen, glutinous rice and wine are used, with singing for three days
On their death anniversary, offerings of black pig, glutinous rice, and wine are used
Regarding Princess Liên Hoa:
She was the daughter of Đinh Bộ Lĩnh and his wife Đặng Thị. Her mother dreamed that an old woman led her to a lotus pond to bathe, after which she became pregnant and gave birth to her. At birth she had the appearance of a fairy, and her father named her Liên Hoa. When she was 12, Lady Đặng Thị died; the princess lived with her father, and in her free time studied military strategy and loved practicing archery and swordsmanship, excelling in everything, truly a person of extraordinary talent. When Đinh Bộ Lĩnh went to fight the 12 warlords, he also took her along. In the battle against Đỗ Cảnh Thạc at Quèn Citadel, when they were besieged, she set up an altar to pray to the deities for help; afterward her father's army won and the 12 warlords were pacified. Later, Princess Liên Hoa asked her father the king for permission to live in Trâm Nhị land, the place where she had prayed to help her father defeat the warlords. The people of Trâm Nhị loved and revered her, calling her Đức Vua Bà. When her father the king passed away and Lê Hoàn usurped power and caused chaos, she could do nothing but join the people in remembrance, and afterward traveled everywhere. When she reached Kim Nhan Mountain in Kệ Trường Estate, Thanh Chương District, Đức Quang Prefecture, Hoan Châu, she and her disciples climbed the mountain to enjoy the scenery. At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened, wind blew violently, lightning flashed as if drawing lines across the sky, the Four Sacred Creatures descended, and all beings came to pay homage... The princess transformed herself on the 4th day of the fifth month. The people of Trâm Nhị, remembering her merits, built a temple to worship her and wrote her divine title as Đức Vua Bà Liên Nương Công Chúa for veneration.
Her birthday on the 12th day of the 11th month is celebrated with vegetarian offerings above and offerings including pig, chicken, glutinous rice, and wine below.
Her death anniversary on the 4th day of the fifth month is celebrated with vegetarian offerings above and offerings including pig, chicken, glutinous rice, and wine below.
For all customary rituals with feasts and sacrifices, sacrifices are also made to Lord Hồng Vũ Đại Vương, with rituals performed as appropriate. As for sacrifices on the birthday and death anniversary of the lord, the main ritual is held in Cù Tu Commune.
2.2. Assessment of the figures worshipped at Lốt Temple
It can be clearly seen that the deities worshipped at Lốt Temple are deities with many merits in driving out foreign invaders and supporting the people's lives. Through the dynasties, the great merits of the deities were all honored by emperors as Tutelary Deities and conferred beautiful titles. The deities at Quán Lốt deserve to be worshipped forever.
042. 3. Other events
“Revolutionary History of the Party Committee and People of Tuyết Nghĩa Commune” (Publisher …) records: During the years of resistance against France, Tuyết Nghĩa was a place of residence and work for a section of the Sở Liêm Phóng (Hà Nội), later a stopover and assembly area for training troops and gaining achievements for the guerrillas of Hà Nội District 4 and the provincial 385th Infantry; it was a place where, during the years of “sticking to the land and grasping the people,” soldiers, militia guerrillas, cadres, and Party members of communes in the district and neighboring districts often passed from the base area through here to launch raids into temporarily occupied areas, coordinate in attacking posts, and eliminate tyrants and traitors, including the feat “Hàm Rồng Uprising” (3/1951) and contributing to the feat “Heroic Thông Đạt” (3/1954).
On March 4, 1951, at Lốt Temple, guerrillas and local people coordinated with the main force sent by the Inter-Regional Party Committee to station in the locality, building a pontoon bridge across the Tích River at Bét Ferry. The battle was arranged as an ambush at Hàm Rồng hollow, with the command post at Lốt Temple. The battle against the French colonialists' sweep was resounding, killing 7 soldiers and capturing 26 puppet soldiers alive, and capturing 1 French three-stripe officer alive; it was honored as the Hàm Rồng Uprising battle (page 162, History of the Quốc Oai District Party Committee, volume 2 (1945–1954), and many documents of the armed forces and military history). The villagers contributed food to feed the guerrillas and returning soldiers; when the victorious troops withdrew through Cổng Si Ferry into Phú Cát Commune, the people transported rice, pigs, and meat following the soldiers (typically Mr. Đặng Văn Đĩnh, commonly called Mr. Muộn, slaughtered about 30 kg of his family's pig and, wrapping it in a silk-leaf jacket, followed the soldiers into Phú Cát; Mr. Dương Như Ngà was assigned to organize those staying behind to bury French soldiers killed in action and erase traces.
During the resistance against the United States, the relic was used as a study place for schoolchildren, a meeting place for villagers and the village youth union. The village also dug several tunnels through hills and bamboo banks; a guerrilla tunnel commanded the battle at Lốt Temple, where guerrillas placed mines and ran wires back to Mr. Lầu's house (Sen Pond well) along the bamboo rows so that the bamboo could conceal the guerrillas from French sweep operations.
Through the two resistance wars against France and the United States, the people of Liên Trì Village contributed human and material resources to the national liberation, sending thousands of young people to enlist in the resistance wars against France and the United States. After the war ended, the entire commune had Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, martyrs against France and martyrs against the United States, and many wounded and sick soldiers.
053. Cultural and religious activities related to the relic
063.1. Liên Trì Village Festival
07* In the past
In the past, the festival only involved families and clans arranging trays of food and fruit to present at Lốt Temple and organizing singing performances; later, palanquin processions were organized (according to ancient documents, preserved sacrificial texts, and translations by a Hán-Nôm scholar).
The customary rites at the shrine, as in the old regulations, are:
Worship of the Three Water Deities:
On their birthday, offerings of buffalo and oxen, glutinous rice and wine are used, with singing for three days
On their death anniversary, offerings of black pig, glutinous rice, and wine are used
Worship of Princess Liên Hoa:
Her birthday on the 12th day of the 11th month is celebrated with vegetarian offerings above and offerings including pig, chicken, glutinous rice, and wine below.
Her death anniversary on the 4th day of the fifth month is celebrated with vegetarian offerings above and offerings including pig, chicken, glutinous rice, and wine below.
For all customary rituals with feasts and sacrifices, sacrifices are also made to Lord Hồng Vũ Đại Vương, with rituals performed as appropriate. As for sacrifices on the birthday and death anniversary of the lord, the main ritual is held in Cù Tu Commune.
08* Today
Every year, on the 10th to the 12th day of the 5th lunar month, the people of Liên Trì village organize a ceremony to worship the Saint at the communal house.
The preparation of the festival is discussed and agreed upon by the people, who contribute funds, establish sections and mass organizations, a dragon dance team, a festival drum team, an 18-member elderly association, a flower and parasol procession team, a team carrying the eight treasures, palanquin bearers, communal-house parasol bearers, flags, a drum and wind instrument team, and a group of elders and local people.
The festival is held from the 10th to the 12th day of the 5th lunar month, or in some years from the 25th to the 27th day of the 10th lunar month, depending on the nature of the annual festival, for unified organization.
The village festival organization submits a proposal to seek opinions from the local government and the Culture and Information Office of Quốc Oai District.
When organizing the festival, the village holds a meeting of the villagers to agree on preparations, time, palanquin procession schedule, establishment of the organizing committee, and assignment of sections.
Recently, it was organized on the 26th day of the 10th lunar month in 2020: the village head was the head of the committee, Most Venerable Thích Trường Xuân was deputy head, the head of the elderly association was in charge of organization, ceremonial program, material facilities and means, and assigned tasks to sections under section heads, such as the Buddhist association, veterans association, and mass organizations under the Fatherland Front; dragon and unicorn dances, culture and arts, sports and other games were undertaken by the women's union, farmers' association, youth union, and the village's Culture and Sports Club.
The clans and families with offerings bring the offerings to the shrine for worship; the temple keeper together with the Ritual Board of Đền Lốt, the sacrificial team, and the incense-offering team perform the high sacrifice ceremony the day before so that the festival can be held the next day.
During the festival, when the palanquin of the village tutelary deity is carried around the village, local people on both sides prepare incense, flowers, fruit, candles, and wine and place them in front of their homes to welcome the village tutelary deity passing by.
The area within the relic site is managed by the Đền Lốt Ritual Board, including 15 members, the temple keeper, 16 members of the sacrificial board, and 12 women in the incense-offering board, who receive offerings from local people and visitors from elsewhere.
Lễ mục dục: mainly bathing and cleaning the dragon throne, palanquins, and memorial tablets from the previous day (about 3 days before the festival), cleaning with tea, and wiping the worship objects inside and outside the sanctuary. The bathing water is taken from the Tích River and mixed with tea water, pomelo leaves, and aromatic ingredients; the purification ritual is sprinkled inside and outside the sanctuary, performed by the temple keeper together with Most Venerable Thích Trường Xuân, with several members assisting with service tasks.
The cloths used in the ceremony are blue and yellow (new cloths), prepared by the ritual board or offered by the people.
Offerings: white glutinous rice, white rice cakes, a black pig's head, chicken, fruit, and incense, comprising 5 offerings: 2 placed inside the sanctuary, 1 outside the board, and 2 on the left and right sides.
No offering competition is held; people offer and present offerings sincerely on their own.
The ceremonies focus on fragrant white glutinous rice, black pig meat, glutinous rice cakes, bananas, and fruit, prepared by the ritual board and Buddhist elders; both glutinous rice and molded rice cakes are arranged on trays for the ceremony (the pig is selected and bought as a black pig), beautiful roosters, beautiful fruit, and flowers of various colors (yellow, pink-red, and white are the focus inside the sanctuary), while outside, lilies, orchids, and ornamental plants are used to decorate the grounds.
Regarding the sacrificial address: Most Venerable Thích Trường Xuân writes it and hands it to the chief sacrificant to read; the text and petition are written at the relic site. The sacrificial board has a person to pass the ritual text to the chief sacrificant; after reading, the chief sacrificant passes it to the assistant sacrificants from left to right, and the ritual text is burned according to the Đông Xướng's call to the left and right directions as seen by the deity's altar.
The sacrificial board has 20 members, with 17 officiating, 1 beating the sacrificial drum, and 2 managing the general offerings of incense and flowers and pouring wine for the sacrificial board to perform the ceremony. Sacrificial costumes include hats, blue robes and trousers, and boots; the chief sacrificant wears red robes and trousers. During the festival there are sacrificial and incense-offering ceremonies in 3 sessions (the announcement ceremony, the festival ceremony, and the thanksgiving ceremony at the end of the festival). The main festival ceremony is when the palanquin is brought back to the Quán; the two sessions are the announcement and thanksgiving ceremonies, and there is an afternoon session on the previous day and an afternoon session on the following day; each ceremony lasts about 2 hours, after which the elderly women offer incense and make a rice-porridge offering for about 1 hour. During the ceremony there are Đông Xưởng and Tây Xưởng, recorded ceremonial music, and 1 drum and 1 gong; the drum and gong players follow the Đông Xưởng's calls according to the rhythmic movements and transitions of the sacrificial board.
Palanquin procession part of the festival day: before the festival day, the palanquins, thrones, dragon pavilions, memorial tablets, and eight treasures are cleaned and offered sacrifices on the afternoon of the previous day.
- Palanquin procession part: 1 palanquin carries the three Great Kings (called the cống palanquin, the offering palanquin), which has been repaired beautifully, and 1 song loan palanquin carries the two princesses; the procession palanquins have a dragon pavilion covering the top, and the palanquins were repaired in 2020. The two palanquins were funded by local people's donations.
The palanquins are cleaned and decorated with flower borders around them by the Most Venerable, who performs the cleansing ceremony and decoration.
When the palanquin is carried, memorial tablets, dragon thrones, offerings of fruit, and incense are placed on it.
Procession route: from the beginning of the village in front of the pagoda courtyard, around the village, and back to the Đền Lốt relic site (because the Quán is at the beginning of the village, 100 m from the pagoda).
The cống palanquin procession team (the saint's palanquin) consists of strong unmarried young men with good personal backgrounds, trained about 1 month before the festival; the palanquin team has 18 people (including reserves), with 12 people carrying it directly.
The song loan palanquin procession team for the princesses consists of 18 beautiful unmarried women, with 12 people carrying it directly.
Before the ceremonial palanquin procession, the saint's palanquin is carried first to the Quán and then welcomes the song loan palanquin, and they are carried together; the unicorn and dragon groups and the flag and banner groups stand on both sides with drums so that the two palanquins pass in the middle.
The palanquin procession has a kết chạ friendship relationship with Đồng Sơn village because the two villages Đồng Sơn and Liên Trì were merged into Liên Sơn Village. The two villages formerly belonged to the same camp and were different villages but administratively adjacent; Đồng Sơn village has 120 households and Liên Trì village has 360 households, together on the dike land on the left bank of the Tích River called Hàm Rồng, sharing the old ferry landing at the cổng si; formerly cổng si was the communal gate of Liên Trì village in front of the Đền Lốt relic site, where the Hàm Rồng victory against the French took place in April 1951.
The kết chạ friendship ceremony between the people of the two villages usually involves going to present offerings and pray when there are family matters, and joining the palanquin procession and lion and dragon dance with Liên Trì village.
Folk games organized during the festival include swinging, monkey bridge walking, erecting the nêu pole, blindfolded goat catching, tug of war, human chess, Chinese chess, air volleyball, football tournaments at Liên Trì pagoda yard, and Hàm Rồng folk singing at the pagoda pond.
093.2. Other ceremonies during the year
In addition, other ceremonies are also held at the communal house, such as:
- such as the new rice festival on the 27th day of the 10th lunar month, the death anniversary of the three Great Kings on the 10th day of the 7th lunar month, and the 12th day of the 5th lunar month is the birthday of the three Great Kings, so the festival is also held in the 5th month (depending on the farming season); the main festival is on the 12th day of the 5th lunar month, when the people and every household hold a feast and make offerings to the village tutelary deity.
On the full moon of the first lunar month, there are ceremonies, offerings of petitions, and star worship to resolve misfortune for families, collectives, annual cohorts, army comrades, and associations of people aged 49 and 50 introduced to the village, and longevity blessing ceremonies are held for elderly people. On the 1st and full moon of every month, people go to the Quán and pagoda to worship; at Tết Thanh Minh, Đoan Ngọ, the full moon of the 7th month, and the full moon of the 8th month, they present new rice and glutinous rice offerings. For the Lunar New Year ceremony, from the afternoon of the 30th day of Tết, households bring offerings for the year-end ceremony; the ritual board and temple keeper are on duty to receive the people's offerings from the evening of the 30th until 5 a.m. on the first day of Tết and to perform the New Year's Eve ceremony for households (100% of households and organizations bring offerings of cakes, sweets, glutinous rice, meat, and fruit at midnight on New Year's Eve; an age and person are chosen to beat the spring-opening drum at the Đền Lốt relic site; on the morning of the first day, people come to worship and receive blessings such as fruit, cakes, sweets, and betel and areca to take home to burn incense at the family altar).
- Other customs: such as longevity-praying and longevity-blessing ceremonies, ground-breaking ceremonies for house construction, ceremonies for passing exams, ceremonies for working far away, etc.
103.3. Assessment of cultural and religious activities at the relic site
Religious activities at the Quán Lốt relic site are organized according to the common worship rituals of the Vietnamese people. The relic site has been organized, managed, and operated by the Elderly Association together with the people of Liên Trì village, with all activities and rituals serving the worship of the three Great Kings, Đinh Thị Liên Hoa, and Hậu Hoa Princess. The rituals have been updated with new elements to suit the present while basically preserving traditional rituals and elements. Whenever a festival is held, local people, village women, and children of the homeland from all regions of the country return to the homeland to attend; the cultural life and new rural appearance of the locality have changed a lot, becoming more spacious and beautiful, people's lives are better, high-rise houses account for 95%, households with cars account for 20%, and many companies, carpentry workshops, and farms have been expanded.
114. Value of the relic site
124.1. Historical value
Tuyết Nghĩa is one of the communes with a fairly large number of relic sites in Quốc Oai District. Every village and hamlet has typical religious and belief works, and many relic sites have been recognized by the State as valuable historical relics. Located in a land with a long history and cultural depth, Đền Lốt contains within itself typical cultural, historical, and artistic values.
Since its establishment, the Quán has truly become one of the religious and belief centers of the people of Liên Trì village. The existence of the Quán is evidence of the prosperity and influence of the worship of the village tutelary deity and of people who rendered merits to the country and the people here.
134.2. Artistic and aesthetic value
Although the temple went through war and only some old worship objects remain, the new artifacts also ensure aesthetics and artistic value in the Liên Trì village festival relic site, associated with the worship of people who rendered merits to the village and country with sacrificial rituals, etc., preserving and maintaining the solidarity of local people from ancient times. This is valuable and contributes to educating younger generations about the tradition of patriotism, solidarity being strength.
The types of roof-truss connections with the artistic style of the Nguyen Dynasty and the recent restorations in traditional style are expressed through sturdy joints, creating a load-bearing frame for the structure and constituting the architectural value of the relic.
144.3. Cultural and scientific values
Tuyet Nghia Commune has two export-oriented bamboo and rattan mat-weaving craft villages, and 96% of village and alley roads have been concreted. Electricity, roads, schools, and medical stations have been built spaciously, cleanly, and beautifully; all 7/7 villages and 5/5 agencies and units have achieved the titles of “Cultural Village” and “Cultural Agency/Unit.” The number of households achieving the “Cultural Family” title annually exceeds 90.0%. The people’s material and spiritual life has continuously developed. With a long history and as a place of economic and cultural exchange among regions, Quoc Oai possesses many distinctive traditional intangible cultural values. In the commune, there is especially the “Ham Rong ví singing” melody. Elderly people say that in the past, Kieu Phu Commune had a strip of land shaped like a dragon beside the Tich River wharf. On the full moon of the eighth lunar month, when the water rose high, village girls gathered at Ham Rong wharf, waiting for young men in the area to sing ví and antiphonal songs, so it was called “Ham Rong Ví Singing.” Whereas Bac Ninh quan ho singers address each other as “lien anh, lien chi,” ví singing uses “eldest brother, second brother,” “eldest sister, second sister”...
The Lien Tri village festival in Tuyet Nghia Commune is one of the festivals that preserves many fine values. In addition to the main festival day, there are many other rituals during the year. The rituals and folk games held have attracted a large number of local people to participate. Through the forms of worship during the festival days, cultural and religious activities at the relic are an occasion to bind the village community, preserve and inherit the village’s traditional cultural identity, and contribute to preserving and passing on cultural values to younger generations.
