Son Du Temple worships Saint Phu Dong Thien Vuong (Saint Giong), a native of Phu Dong Village who had the merit of fighting the Yin invaders in the time of the 6th Hung King. While fighting the invaders, he passed through Gom Village and left two footprints there; the people of Gom Village have worshipped him from ancient times to the present. According to local memory, the temple existed long ago. After being destroyed by scorched-earth tactics during the resistance war, in the 1980s-1990s the temple was rebuilt by the people as three small bays for worship. In 2014, restoration of the temple began, retaining the architecture as it is today.
Son Du Temple worships Saint Phu Dong Thien Vuong
The main temple has a floor plan in the shape of the character 'ding' including the front worship hall and rear sanctuary. The temple architecture is made of concrete painted to imitate wood. The front worship hall consists of 3 bays and 2 side bays with four graceful upturned roofs; in the center of the ridge are two dragons flanking the moon, at the two roof ends are images of lac dragons and water monsters, the fascia is decorated with lemon flowers and running qilins, and the roof ends are decorated with dragons, qilins, and cloud clusters. The middle three bays are fitted with a folding-door system closed with wooden panels, and the two side bays have walls forming windows in the shape of the character “thọ”. At the two gable ends, walls connect with ceremonial pillars, creating rectangular panels with warrior statues and four-seasons paintings. The ceremonial pillars are made in the traditional style with dragon and phoenix images; on the pillar bodies are inscribed parallel sentences praising the beauty of Gom Village and the merits of Saint Phu Dong Thien Vuong. Decoration on the temple architecture mainly features the four sacred creatures, stylized leaves, and animal figures.
The rear sanctuary connects with the middle bay of the front hall to create a floor plan in the shape of the character 'ding' consisting of 3 bays and 1 longitudinal compartment, with 4 trusses in the upper 'gia chieng chong ruong' style and lower 'ke' and 'bay' resting on the wall. Decoration is simple, with stylized leaf patterns and outlined edges.
Over time, the temple has preserved a number of valuable worship objects such as horizontal plaques, parallel sentences, hanging curtains, altar tables, five-vessel sets, incense bowls, decorative vases, etc., among which mention must be made of the statue of Saint Giong cast in bronze, sitting majestically and calmly on a pedestal, with the stern face of a warrior, head wearing 'iron helmet', body wearing 'iron armor', feet wearing 'iron boots', left hand resting on the knee, right hand holding 'a staff of ivory bamboo' . On both sides are statues of the Four Bodhisattvas standing in attendance.
Parallel sentences kept in Son Du Temple
Every year, the people of Son Du Village jubilantly organize a festival from the 7th to the 10th day of the first lunar month to express gratitude for the merits of the tutelary gods who rendered service to the people and the country. The villagers hold a ceremony for Saint Phu Dong on the 7th day of the first lunar month (the festival day) and on the 6th day of the 5th lunar month (the day Saint Phu Dong descended at the temple). Other village tutelary gods, because their birth and death days are unknown, are worshipped together in a festival from the 1st to the 10th day of the first lunar month. Previously, Son Du Village, together with Nam Hong Village, organized a procession to welcome Saint Phu Dong Thien Vuong to the festival on the 7th day of the first lunar month; today this joint organization no longer takes place. During these days, every household joyfully welcomes Tet, villagers working far away return to meet each other, light incense to show reverence to ancestors and gods, and pray for a peaceful new year and prosperous business.
Comrade Nguyen Thi Tam - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Anh District (former) awarded the Certificate of ranking as a city-level historical-artistic relic to Son Du Temple
Although Son Du Temple has only recently been restored, it still retains traditional architectural features. The temple was ranked as a City-level Historical and Artistic Relic under Decision No. 2396/QĐ-UBND dated July 7, 2022.
