Thai Vi is a famous sacred temple worshiping the kings of the Tran Dynasty, located between green rice fields and a complex of rolling mountains and hills. Right outside the temple gate is a shady banyan tree and a small water row under the banyan tree is where visitors stop to rest and chat. The temple is located in the middle of a beautiful, harmonious space, with the Ngo Giang river on the right, Coi Linh mountain on the left, and in front of the temple door is a golden well containing clear Bach Ngoc. That scene of green mountains and blue waters reminds visitors of the folk saying: “Thao Tu Son Liem has no peerless holy land (This holy land is only one, not two)/ Hoang Thuy flower disturbs the first heavenly pearl (River Crooked mountains, fragrant flowers and strange grass, scenery like a fairyland, also unique)

Classic and unique architectural space

Nestled within the natural landscape like a painting, Thai Vi Temple has an architectural style in the style of “Foreign Noi Cong”. All pillars inside and outside the temple are made of monolithic green stone, the outside is meticulously and elaborately carved with elegant and flexible patterns that are not inferior to those carved on wood. In front of the temple is a jade well also built of green stone, green and jade green all year round. Behind the temple is the majestic Cam Son rocky mountain range. Inside the temple there will be many statues, stone steles and ancient cast bells of great value. The stele tower will record the merits of those who paid tribute to visiting and building the temple.

As soon as you enter the temple, you will see a large dragon yard, about 40 square meters wide, paved with green stones. The main road and dragon yard are both paved with green stones. On both sides will be two rows of Vong houses – where the ancients would discuss rituals. In addition, Thai Vi temple also has Five Great Gates with extremely impressive carved architecture. The outside of the stone column will be carved with prominent parallel sentences in Chinese characters, surrounded by a delicately carved stone porch with two dragons flanking the moon.

From the dragon yard, follow the stone steps with a height of 1.2m to reach (5 large doors) with 6 parallel rows of round stone pillars all carved with dragon kings flanking the front. The outside of the stone pillars are all carved. The porch beams are also made of stone and carved.

Although there are many stone pillars inside Thai Vi temple, the stonemasons have “breathed soul” into each pillar, making them more soulful and artistic. Whether it’s sculpting parallel sentences or commemorating kings of the Tran Dynasty, they all have their own, special features. In Chinh Tam’s examination palace, statues of Tran Dynasty kings will be placed. If in the middle is the statue of Tran Thanh Tong, on the left are the statues of Tran Thanh Tong and Tran Thai Tong, then on the right will be the statue of Queen Mother Hien Tu. Every line on the face is meticulously carved, simulating the portraits of kings.

Participate in the Thai Vi temple festival – the annual national holiday of Ninh Binh province

Thai Vi Temple will hold an extremely large festival on three days, March 14, 15, and 16 of the lunar calendar. Because according to the beliefs of Tam Coc local people, after defeating the Mongol invaders, March 15 is the day the king returned to Thien Truong in Nam Dinh to worship his ancestors and celebrate the victory. Therefore, organizing this festival is also a celebration of the king’s victory, as well as to thank the heroic sacrifices of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation. Thai Vi temple festival is the general village festival. On the afternoon of March 14, Van Lam villagers held a ceremony to open the temple door and process the holy incense bowl to Cac communal house. People believe that in the past, this was the place where mandarins came to report before entering the Vu Lam palace as well as to pay their respects to the Tran kings here. On the morning of March 15, the villages of the ancient Vu Lam canton will process the holy palanquin representing their village to Cac communal house to perform sacrifices.

irst, Khe Dau village – Elder Village will process the holy palanquin through villages such as Xuan Ang, Kha Luong, Hanh Cung, Ha Trao, and Tuan Cao. When the palanquin reaches a village, that village’s palanquins follow each other, pulling each other’s tail to the last village and to Cac communal house. Even Dau village worships Prince Ngu Cau Vuong and Princess Huyen Tran of the Tran dynasty. After completing the Tet ceremony at Cac communal house, the villages will continue to go to Thai Vi temple to pay homage to the Tran kings. After the ceremony, there was a Ca Cong singing performance. consisting of a person playing the lemon instrument and a female singer wearing a red and blue tie-dyed ao dai, singing a song praising the merits of the Tran kings.

After that, the villages will organize the tradition of drawing the words Peaceful Heaven and Truc Lam Taoist. The word drawing team consists of 120 children aged 14 – 15, divided equally between boys and girls, into 2 rows. First, the children run in a double line in the middle and then spread out to the two sides under the control of the chess player. When the letters run out, they sit down to let the letters stand out. In addition, the festival also organizes many folk games such as human chess, wrestling, lion dance, dragon dance, boating…

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