The historical and cultural relic of Ca Temple, also known as the Great Temple, Tam Toa Dai Vuong in Ich Hau commune (Loc Ha, Ha Tinh ), was started to be built in the 11th century, during the Ly Dynasty, worshiping many meritorious mandarins of the nation.
Video : The ancient, profound beauty of the Ca Temple
According to legend and historical documents, in the year Canh Ngo 1030, the 8th prince of King Ly Thai To, Ly Nhat Quang, and 2 princes, Ly Dai Thanh and Ly Thai Giai, followed the king's order to go to the land south of Hoan Chau ( Nghe An - Ha Tinh today) to recruit people and establish villages. Later, to commemorate the merits of the 3 generals, the people took the land where the army was stationed to build a temple to worship them day and night. Initially, the temple was called Dinh Hat, a shrine to worship the Three Great Kings, later called the Great Temple.
During the Tran Dynasty (in the 13th century), the meritorious mandarins Tran Quang Khai and Tran Khanh Du continued to come to Hoan Chau to direct the land development at the foot of Hong Linh mountain and stopped to rest at the temple. Afterwards, the people remembered the merits of the two men and established "Two Holy Kings' Temples" to worship them.
According to "Du dia chi tinh Ha Tinh", during the Le dynasty, King Le Thanh Tong, while fighting the Champa invaders, could not continue when his boat crossed the Kenh Can River. The king personally led the royal procession ashore to the temple to perform a ceremony, only then could the boat proceed. After returning from the victorious battle against the Champa invaders, the king ordered the people of Phu Luu commune (including the communes: Ich Hau, Phu Luu, Hong Loc, Tan Loc...) to repair the temple and called it the temple of "Than Tam Lang" .
The current architecture of the Ca Temple consists of three main buildings: the lower hall, the middle hall and the upper hall, built in different years. Of which, the upper hall was built in 1474 under the Hong Duc era, named Xuan Dai Palace, by the Second Class Fifth Doctorate, Dong Cac Hieu Thu Tran Duc Mau. The house is made of solid ironwood, with many sophisticated carvings by craftsmen in Thang Long citadel, and after completion, it was brought back by waterway for assembly.
The upper shrine worships the Holy Mother, followed by the Three Great Kings including Prince Ly Nhat Quang and two princes Ly Dai Thanh and Ly Thai Giai. On both sides of the upper shrine are two meritorious mandarins Tran Quang Khai and Tran Khanh Du. The middle shrine worships those who have contributed to the country such as Tran Duc Mau, Nguyen Van Giai... The lower shrine worships the village's tutelary gods brought back from the commune's villages. In the photo: the altar of the Three Great Kings Ly Nhat Quang and two princes of the Ly dynasty in the upper shrine.
The central palace was built in the year of Quy Mui (1583). King Le The Tong, Quang Hung reign, ordered the Minister of Personnel, Duke Nguyen Van Giai, to bring it from Thang Long, Hanoi, by waterway.
Inside the Central Palace building.
The central hall is made of solid ironwood with 16 columns, the horizontal panels, beams, and rafters are meticulously carved with images of dragons, phoenixes, kings, generals, soldiers, elephants, and horses... In particular, the two ironwood panels are carved with two scenes: playing chess and singing and dancing at the royal court. Photo: The panel is carved with a scene of the king and mandarins playing chess.
The lower palace was built by King Le Thanh Tong for the people of Phu Luu commune in the year Dinh Suu (1877).
Attached to the shrines are many parallel sentences in Chinese characters praising the merits of our ancestors in protecting the country and the people through the ages . In the photo: A parallel sentence in the central shrine is annotated in Vietnamese by the temple management board.
Along with the main shrines, the Ca Temple also has structures such as the house for royal decrees (currently the Ca Temple still preserves 37 royal decrees granted to the temple by kings), a house for burning gold incense... In the photo: The house for royal decrees of the Ca Temple.
In particular, in the nearly 3-hectare campus of the Temple of the Great is a complex of ancient trees with many rare species hundreds of years old. Of these, 6 trees are determined to be nearly 1,000 years old, associated with the time the temple was first established, and have been certified as heritage trees. In the photo: The tree is said to have been planted in the 11th century.
According to historical documents, Ca Temple was also a secret meeting place for the Party organization in the lower Can region during the period 1930-1931. Photo: Teachers and students of Nguyen Dong Chi High School visit and learn about the cultural and historical values of Ca Temple.
With many historical and cultural values, in 1992, the Ministry of Culture and Information ranked Ca Temple as a national historical and cultural relic. In 2018, the temple was restored and embellished by the government and people at all levels with a total cost of 27 billion VND.
In order to preserve and promote the values of the Ca Temple relic, recently, the government and people have regularly called for socialized resources to restore and embellish. The commune has also re-planned the temple grounds with an area of nearly 3 hectares, to protect the relic landscape and preserve the ecosystem of the ancient tree garden.
We also actively promote to local and foreign people the values of the relic and aim to build this into a spiritual and cultural destination that attracts tourists, spreading and educating the young generation about the pride in the historical and cultural traditions of the homeland and country.
Mr. Tran Kim Quy
Vice Chairman of Ich Hau Commune People's Committee
Thien Vy - Duc Quang
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