Ba Chua Che (Lady Chua Che) Temple - Thanh Chuong

Ba Chua Che (Lady Chua Che) Temple in Hanh Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province was built in the Nguyen Dynasty to worship "Pearl Tra Lam princess Van nuong" (Pearl Tra Lam princess Van nuong) and worship Lady Dinh Thi Nguyet. The god "Pearl Tra Lam princess Van nuong" had merit to help King Le Loi fight the enemy and often appeared to help people chase wild animals, protect crops and livestock. The god was honored by the people of Doi Che village in Man Lam commune (now in Hanh Lam commune) and was granted the title of "Middle-class god" by the feudal dynasties. Lady Dinh Thi Nguyet (Descendant of Dr. Dinh Nhat Than) made many contributions to the two uprisings against the French by Tran Tan - Dang Nhu Mai (1874) and Dr. Dinh Van Chat (1885). During the uprisings, she always enthusiastically participated in the activities assigned by the leader such as increasing military salaries, mobilizing the people to help the insurgents. Especially, after Dinh Van Chat's uprising failed, he was executed by the French colonialists, it was Lady Dinh Thi Nguyet who secretly stole the leader's head to bury and worship. In the past, the temple consisted of two halls of Bai Duong (chapel) and Hau Cung (harem). In 1970, Bai Duong was brought to the cooperative warehouse; Hau Cung was badly damaged. In 1998, the authorities and people of Hanh Lam commune brought Bai Duong back to its old position. In 2002, the Hau Cung was restored.

 Ba Chua Temple is located on a land area of 2565m2, gently lying along the Lam River, according to charming feng shui. In front of the temple is the winding blue Lam river, surrounded by a rich village in the past, now there are fields, sugarcane fields, mulberry fields and lush corn fields. Standing in front of the temple, the rows of ancient trees cast shadows spreading their branches down the temple gate, creating an ancient and profound beauty. Behind, in the distance, is Nguu Linh Mountain, which shields the toxic winds, giving the temple a position of interference between heaven and earth, river and mountains.

          Currently, the architectural works of the temple, including the temple gate, the temple yard, the lower hall, the middle hall, the left palace, the right palace, and the upper hall, are the result of the process of building, restoring and embellishing the temple under the Nguyen Dynasty. Ba Chua Temple is considered as a typical example of traditional architectural style, which is opposite with front and back, with upper and lower, with left and right side and arranged in depth, so it has created an airy space for the relic, but still retains the ancient and sacred beauty of temples and shrines.

In particular, Ba Chua Temple also preserves many documents and artifacts of historical - cultural value such as ordination, couplets, great letters, etc. to help posterity have more valuable materials in researching and learning about the career life of the characters worshiped at the temple. The event that Ba Chua Temple and Thanh Chuong people were honored to receive the provincial-level historical-cultural relic certificate shows the deep recognition and concern of the Party and State to the people of Thanh Chuong district in general and Thanh Dong commune in particular in the protection, preservation, care and promotion of the priceless value of precious historical and cultural relics: Ba Chua Temple.

Every year, at the temple, many solemn ceremonies take place, the biggest being the Khai Ha ceremony held on lunar January 07 attracting a large number of local people and surrounding areas to attend.