Origin: In the past, the people of Van Mon and Hat Mon villages belonged to the same canton. In the Giap Ngo year (1894), changes in the Hat Giang River divided Hat Mon into two villages (Hat Mon and Van Mon). The people of Van Mon built a temple and requested the honorary title of tutelary deity Hai Ba Trung from the original Hat Mon village for worship.
Construction process: Initially, the temple was only a small shrine made of bamboo, thatch, and leaves. In the Binh Ngo year (1870), the temple was renovated spaciously by the people on a high plot of land at the entrance to the village.
Ranking: With its great historical values, Van Mon Temple was ranked as a National Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information on June 28, 1996.
3. Distinctive features of architecture, art, and artifacts
Architecture: The temple faces southeast and has a Dinh (T)-shaped layout, including: the ceremonial gate, two left/right auxiliary houses, the front worship hall, and the rear sanctuary.
Front worship hall: It consists of 3 compartments roofed with ri tiles, with a truss structure of the "thuong gia chieng ha ke ngoi" type and traditional decorative patterns.
Rear sanctuary: It is a longitudinal compartment; in the center, a high brick platform holds two sets of dragon thrones and statues worshipping the two ladies.
Precious artifacts: The temple preserves many exquisite ritual objects, most notably 03 royal edicts, the Ngoc Pha book of the tutelary deity, 02 sets of thrones and ancestral tablets, and a set of artistic song loan palanquins from the 19th century.
Special custom: Van Mon Temple has a very ancient custom of absolutely not using red in the worship space. All altar tables and ritual objects are black-lacquered, because legend says the deity died by weapons, so red is avoided as it resembles the color of blood.
4. Traditional festival
Every year, the Van Mon Temple festival is held on the 6th day of the 3rd lunar month.
This is the death anniversary on which local people perform rituals to remember the great merits of Hai Ba Trung, thereby educating patriotism, the spirit of self-reliance, and honoring the talents of Vietnamese women in the cause of national salvation
The relic was ranked by the Ministry of Culture and Information under Decision No. 1460 VH/QD dated June 28, 1996.
