Temple of Ngai Thang – a countryside feature of urban area

Among the communal houses and temples recognized as historical and cultural relics in the province, the Temple of Ngai Thang on Ngai Thang street of Binh Thang ward, Di An city is quite unique because it worships two village deities. Following the staff of Di An city Department of Culture and Information, we had the opportunity to visit this unique old temple.

The gate of Temple of Ngai Thang was newly constructed in 2007 in an eye-catching way

The two village deities

According to Nguyen Trung Quan, an officer of Di An city Department of Culture and Information, in the house of two gods, namely local god and Truong Cong Dat – a kingdom official. These are the two gods with great merit to the villagers of Ngai Thang in the first days when they came here to reclaim and settle.

Like many other temples, Ngai Thang Temple was established by the local people to worship local god of the village. At first, the temple was built in a very small space and simple manner in a dense and wild forest. Ngai Thang Temple was also called the communal house and the temple was also for worshiping Truong Cong Dat, a kingdom official. By historical records, Truong Cong Dat was originally from Thuan Hoa as a Justice Chief of the Thai To under Le dynasty. After his death, his descendants migrated to the South and came to the area of present day -  Ngai Thang to reclaim the land to cultivate and settle in the new land. After settling down, they moved his spirit in the countryside here and set up a tomb to worship.

Legend has it that his grave was very spiritual and often protected the people in the area for peace and good luck. Therefore, the people of Ngai Thang regarded him as a "patron god of the people" and worshiped him in the temple together with their local god. Since then, the temple has been called the communal house - the palace of Ngai Thang. In 1852, the Ngai Thang's palace was conferred the deity by King Tu Duc and was ranked as a provincial relic on January 9, 2009 by Binh Duong provincial People's Committee.

Cultural features preserved

According to the members of the temple noble committee, at first Ngai Thang communal house was built in very small shape in the middle of a dense forest where the grave of Truong Cong Dat was nearby. Since its construction up to now, the communal house of Ngai Thang has undergone many renovations and repairs. During the wartime, the communal house was completely burned down in 1954. After that, Le Van Lieng, Chau Van Nga and Nguyen Van Phan (known as the sage) stood out and rebuilt the communal house for local people. People worship the two village deities and made it a place for cultural and spiritual activities. In 2000, the communal house was again repaired by public money. The sentences of matching Chinese characters with cultural significance were also restored and hung solemnly in the communal house. Thanks to the efforts and contributions of the people, Ngai Thang communal house has become more spacious and solid as it is today.

When we come to the area of ​​Ngai Thang quarter, we will easily recognize this house because the gate is built quite spaciously. The communal gate was built in the way of the three-door style in 2007 (the number 2007 was still inscribed on the gate). From the entrance to the communal house, on the left side is the dining hall, followed by the main hall (worship area). The incense worshiping is placed inside the main hall: First, the incense worshiping space of local god (on the altar has the word ‘God’ written in Chinese characters); next is the altar of President Ho Chi Minh (a bronze statue of President Ho Chi Minh is on the altar) and finally the incense worshiping space of Truong Cong Dat. The two sides of the sentence are for worshiping the right and left committees. According to the members of the noble committee, only the altar of President Ho Chi Minh and heroic martyrs in the commune is available at the communal house which is quite a difference of the Ngai Thang communal house compared to many other village communal houses and temples in more unique cultural activities of the local people.

The communal house is a place to keep the spiritual cultural activities of local people for many generations. Every year, many forms of community activities imbued with Vietnamese village culture are organized to express respect and gratitude to ancestors and the gods who have made merit to the villagers. On the occasion of the full moon of January, at the communal house, Ky Yen ceremony (also called the Thuong Nguyen ceremony) attracts a large number of people in the area and surrounding areas to participate. In particular, every year, 2 great rituals related to the two gods worshiping in the communal house are organized, that is the ceremony to pray to local god (from the 18 to 19 of lunar August) and to worship Truong Cong Dat (from the 18 to 19 of lunar November). In addition to the above ceremonies, for many years, a special ceremony has been maintained at the communal house, which is to worship the Day of War Invalids and Martyrs on July 27 of each year.

Through many ups and downs of history and the changes of time, the temple and communal house of Ngai Thang is still a place to keep the traditional cultural activities of the nation from the past up to now. Although the society is increasingly developing, these traditional cultural features are still preserved and developed to not only contribute to the spiritual connection among people but also strengthen solidarity and mutual support in new life.

Reported by Cam Ly – Translated by Vi Bao