Belonging to the Lam Kinh National Special Relic Site, Tep Temple is located in the ancient and sacred Kien Tho Commune (Ngoc Lac), a place to worship the founding hero Trung Tuc Vuong Le Lai. During your spring trip at the beginning of the year, visit Tep Temple, immerse yourself in the traditional festival atmosphere to feel the cultural beauty of the land and people here.
Tep Temple is the place to worship Trung Tuc Vuong Le Lai.
Located in the ancient Muong Dung Tu, Tep village (now Thanh Son hamlet, Kien Tho commune) is as beautiful as a landscape painting. This is the hometown of Founding hero Le Lai - a character who has gone down in history and folk legend with his brave act of risking his life to save his lord.
According to historical records, Le Lai was upright and had a strong will. He was one of the generals who participated in the Lung Nhai Oath, vowing to fight the foreign invaders together. Le Lai was trusted by the commander Le Loi to take care of logistics. In the early days of the Lam Son uprising, the insurgents encountered many difficulties. One time, the insurgents were surrounded by the Ming army, blocking a key place, the urgent situation was like "a thousand pounds hanging by a thread". To break the siege, Binh Dinh King Le Loi asked his generals: "Who dares to change clothes, take my place to lead the army to fight the enemy, claiming my name, imitating Ky Tin of the Han Dynasty, so that I can hide my reputation, deceive, gather generals, and plan for the uprising later".
Amidst the silence of the generals, Le Lai then spoke up: "I will go, after I have taken over the country, I will think of my merits, so that my descendants will forever remember the country, that is my wish". Before the heroic action of his general, King Le Loi of Binh Dinh was moved, he bowed to heaven and earth and prayed: "Le Lai has the merit of changing clothes, after this I and my descendants, along with the descendants of the meritorious generals, if we do not remember his merits, then please let the palace turn into mountains and forests, the precious seal turn into a lump of copper, and the divine sword turn into a blunt knife".
Thanks to Le Lai riding an elephant with a number of generals and soldiers charging straight into the enemy's besieged battlefield, the enemy believed that they had captured the Lam Son uprising leader, so the enemy withdrew their troops to Tay Do citadel, and from then on, they neglected their defenses. This was also an opportunity for the Lam Son uprising army to restore morale, consolidate their forces to reverse the situation, and continuously win victories later on.
Not forgetting the brave act of sacrificing for the great cause of his general, after ascending the throne, Le Thai To appointed Le Lai as a first-class meritorious official, posthumously awarded him the title of Thieu Uy, and the posthumous name "Toan Nghia". Later, he also ordered the scholar Nguyen Trai to write an oath, swearing to remember Le Lai's merits and put it in a golden box, and also awarded him the title of Thai Uy. In the first year of Thai Hoa (1443), Le Lai was awarded the title of Binh Chuong Quan Quoc Trong Su...; at the beginning of the Hong Duc era, he was awarded the title of Dien Phuc Hau, and in 1484, he was posthumously awarded the title of Thai Uy Phuc Quoc Cong, and later was awarded the title of Trung Tuc Vuong.
Le Lai's noble act of risking his life to save his lord was not only recorded in history books, but also entered the "memory" of the people, and is passed down to this day. Every year, on the occasion of the death anniversary of King Le Thai To - Lam Kinh Festival, not only the people of Thanh, but also the people of the whole country, remind each other: "Twenty-one Le Lai, twenty-two Le Loi, twenty-three Hang Dau's death anniversary".
To commemorate the founding hero Le Lai, a temple was built on the ancient land of Dung Tu, which is often called Tep Temple by local people. The site is about 5km from Lam Kinh National Special Relic Site. According to preserved documents, Tep Temple was built under the reign of Thai Hoa, under the reign of King Le Nhan Tong. Over time, in 1971, on the old foundation, the people of Tep village together rebuilt the temple with an 8-roofed architecture and a roof.
In 1997, in the Lam Kinh Restoration and Renovation Project, the State invested in restoring Tep Temple on the old foundation with ironwood according to traditional architecture, including the front hall and the back hall. In the temple area, on the left side, there is also a temple to worship Lady Nuong A Thien (Le Lai's wife), which people often call Mau Temple.
People perform the Pon Poong dance during the spring festival held at Tep temple.
Tep Temple is located on a high, flat, airy area, still praised as the land of "dragons and tigers". "To the north behind the temple is a mountain range running up to Nan mountain in Phung Giao commune..., to the south, in front of the temple is a large field stretching to Ho Chi Minh road. To the east is a nine-turning stream flowing through and on both banks are fertile fields". (Book of History of Kien Tho Commune Party Committee). Today, in front of Tep Temple is a large crescent lake. Tep Temple has both an ancient, solemn beauty and is still very soft when decorated with elaborate, sophisticated carvings.
In particular, at Tep Temple in early spring, there is also the traditional festival of Trung Tuc Vuong Le Lai. Vice Chairman of Kien Tho Commune People's Committee Nguyen Thi Thien said: "Tep Village is the living area of the majority of Muong ethnic people. Every year, at Tep Temple relic, there are two major festivals in the 8th lunar month (Lam Kinh festival) and on the 7th and 8th of January. In the early spring festival, besides the solemn traditional rituals (announcement, palanquin procession, sacrifice), the festival is also exciting with folk games and performances such as wearing ethnic costumes and performing gongs; Pon Pong dance; playing volleyball... With the unique cultural values preserved, the traditional festival in early spring at Tep Temple attracts a large number of people and tourists to participate".
The sacred Tep Temple relic is hidden under the canopy of ancient trees with hundreds of years of age, making visitors feel both ancient and sacred, yet very close. In the early days of spring, visiting Tep Temple, immersing yourself in the beautiful natural space will certainly bring visitors a meaningful spring travel experience.
Article and photos: Khanh Loc
(The article references and uses materials in the books: 35 founding fathers of Lam Son; Lam Kinh historical relic).
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