Hung Temple

Tomorrow 15 April is an important day in Vietnam. It's the memorial day of Kings Hùng (Ngày giỗ tổ Hùng Vương), who were the founders of Vietnam. According to the Vietnamese legend and old historical records, during the bronze age, there were about 15 Lạc Việt tribes living in the midland and northern delta of Vietnam. The Văn Lang was the most powerful tribe and the leader of the tribe played a historical role of unifying all other Lạc Việt tribes to establish the Văn Lang kingdom. He became the first King Hùng. During the Hùng Vương period, the confluence of 3 rivers (Ðà river, Hồng river and Lô river) was chosen by Kings Hùng as the capital of the Văn Lang kingdom. 

The temple of Kings Hùng is located in Phong Châu ditrict, Phú Thọ province, 85km away from Hanoi. The temple was built on Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain in Phong Châu, which used to be located inside the Văn Lang kingdom 4,000 years ago. The temple of Kings Hùng consists of 4 temples, a pagoda and a tom Every year, the festival at the temple of Kings Hùng lasts 10 days, from 1st to 10th March based on the Vietnamese lunar calendar. From 2007, the 10th of March based on the Vietnamese lunar calendar became a national holiday. This year, the festival started from 1st March (ie 6 April of Gregorian calendar) to 10th March (ie 15 April of Gregorian calendar). The 10th of March is the most important day at the festival and there will be some ceremonies and traditional activities at the temple. 

Last Wednesday, 9 April 2008, I went on a trip to the temple of Kings Hùng with 2 Vietnamese men, who are the Employer (Chủ đầu tư) of our Project. While this was my first visit, they make annual visits to the temple over the past 10 years. It took us 2 hours to travel from Hanoi to the temple. Although my visit was on the working day (Wednesday), there were many visitors because of the festival. On the most important day of the festival, ie 15 April, there will be even more people and it will take longer to go up and down the mountain. 

The area we visited on that day included Hạ temple (Ðền Hạ), Trung temple (Ðền Trung), Thượng temple (Ðền Thượng), tomb of King Hùng VI and Giếng temple (Ðền Giếng). My two travel companions walked up the stairs very fast, I had to run up to follow them, because sometimes I stopped on the way to take photos. They spent very little time at each temple, just burning an incense stick, praying and donating money. The first temple was Hạ temple (Lower Temple), then we walked up to Trung temple (Middle Temple). The highest temple is Thượng temple (Upper Temple) with Kings throne at the summit of the mountain. The temples were built during the 18th and 19th centuries. 

We walked back a different direction, so that we could visit Giếng temple (Giếng means "Well"). It was so cool to walk down stairs inside the jungle and enjoy a great view of Giếng temple. Next to the temple, there is a dry well and many people threw coins and notes into it or on the ground. There is a famous saying in Vietnam: "Dù ai đi ngược về xuôi, nhớ ngày giỗ Tổ mùng mười tháng ba" . It means "Anywhere we go, we must remember the 10th of March - the memorial day of our ancestors." One of the offerings at the 

temple of Kings Hùng this year is a huge cup of coffee, which was recognized as the biggest cup in the Guinness World Records. The cup can contain 3,613 liters of coffee, enough for over 30,000 people to drink. The cup travelled a long way from Sài Gòn to the temple of Kings Hùng and now is placed at the gate into the temple. 

On the way back to Hanoi, we stopped in Việt Trì city for lunch. The famous specialty in the city is the dishes of hemibagrus (cá lăng). It is a kind of river fish that only lives at the confluence of the 3 rivers. There were 3 dishes we ordered for the lunch: grilled fish (cá nướng), fried fish (cá xào) and fish soup with green banana to be eaten with noodle (cá nấu chuối xanh ăn với bún). The fish was so delicious that it was one of the highlights on my trip. 

The photos in this blog are arranged in order of Hạ temple, Trung temple, Thượng temple, tomb of King Hùng VI and Giếng temple. There are lots of local products on sale in shops along the way to the temple. 

They are bamboo hats, bamboo fans, flutes, candy etc.