Va Temple

Va Temple - A Cultural Space

Va Temple is also known as Dong Cung and is located in Van Gia residential group, Son Tay Ward, Hanoi City. The temple is about 2 km from the center of Son Tay Ward and 1 km from the Duong Lam Ancient Village tourist site.

Over thousands of years of history, folk culture has produced and preserved native Vietnamese deities, revered and worshipped by generations. Among them, the foremost in the Four Immortals in particular and among all deities in general is Nam Thien Thanh To - Tan Vien Son Thanh, the Holy Ancestor of the Southern Sky and Saint Tan Vien of the Mountain. He is worshipped in almost all places across the Northern Delta. The belief in worshipping Saint Tan Vien Son has existed for a long time, has been passed down through generations, and has spread in the cultural life of the Vietnamese people. Va Temple is the largest place of worship among nearly 200 relics in the Doai region dedicated to Saint Tan, and it is one of his four palaces.

In the space that is both real and legendary of the primary lim forest area of more than 1.7 ha, the temple appears majestic with an orderly and neat layout that expresses the solemnity and dignity of a place of worship. Viewed from above, the entire temple area is located on a low hill surrounded by hundreds of centuries-old lim trees and many other timber trees that stay green in all four seasons. This low hill is shaped like a turtle swimming toward the sunrise. Around the temple are fields cooled by the legendary Red River and Tich River. The temple has an area of 2,000 m² within an 8,000 m² grounds and was built in the inner-court, outer-nation style, strongly imbued with Eastern architectural identity. The Va Temple complex includes works such as the Ceremonial Gate, Co Chin Pavilion, Long Hoa Courtyard, Bell Tower, Drum Tower, Left and Right Side Halls, Front Ceremonial Hall, Upper Sanctuary, Rear Sanctuary, Storehouse, and Palanquin House. The works use precious materials such as lim wood, laterite, Bat Trang bricks, and mui ri tiles. Many precious sacred creatures are decorated, such as the four sacred creatures (dragon, ly, turtle, phoenix), the four noble plants (pine, chrysanthemum, bamboo, apricot), lotus flowers, and orchids; stylized carvings express the skillful hands and creativity of the craftsmen and the reverence of millions of Vietnamese people for the saintly ancestors. The temple currently preserves many precious relics such as ancient statues, royal decrees, divine records, horizontal lacquered boards, stone steles, bronze bells, and parallel couplets.

The Va Temple historical and cultural relic was ranked by the State as a national-level historical and cultural relic in 1964. Together with Son Tay Ancient Citadel and the Duong Lam Ancient Village relic complex, Va Temple has become an attractive destination for domestic and international tourists visiting Son Tay - the center of the former Doai region in particular and a distinctive cultural feature of Hanoi, the capital with a thousand years of civilization, in general.