CHOONG TEMPLE
Choong Temple is a sacred temple located on Pu Den mountain in the old Muong Choong center, now Chau Ly commune, Quy Hop district, Nghe An province. The temple was built in the Hau Le Dynasty, in a prime location, surrounded by Nam Choong, protected by the Pha Con mountain range, with a heroic spirit, simple customs, and an extremely rich spiritual life.
There are two different opinions about the person to be mainly worshiped at the temple. The first opinion believe that Choong temple is a version of Chin Gian temple in Que Phong, worshiping Tao Muong, in addition, it also worships Nang Phom Hom (Nang Toc Thom). However, this opinion is not agreed by the Muong Choong People. The second opinion is that Choong temple was built to worship Nang Phom Hom (ie Nang Toc Thom) - who had merits in Lam Son uprising. This opinion is agreed by the majority of the people.
Nang Phom Hom (Nang Toc Thom) - a girl of the Thai ethnic group converging the sacred air of heaven and earth, right from the moment she was born, she was smarter and more agile than people, especially her hair is always fragrant with the scent of wild flowers. Wherever she goes, she brings luck and fun there. She went from house to house, guided people in the area to make a lot of rice, weave many cloths to serve the long-term resistance insurgent army and take on the mission of commanding the collection of food to feed the army during the Lam Son uprising (1418 - 1427). In the afternoon, in nostalgia for the general who was on the battlefield, while washing her hair, she accidentally dropped the comb, reached out to pick it up and was swept into the abyss by the water. Missing her, the general and soldiers and Muong Choong people built a temple to worship her right on Pu Den mountain. In the minds of the Muong Choong people, Nang Phom Hom is a beautiful symbol of the merits – beauty -appropriate speech - moral conduct of a Thai girl, a crystallized symbol from the brotherly solidarity of the two ethnic groups Thai and Kinh.
The old Choong Temple has a campus of about 10 hectares, including: The upper house (upper palace), the lower house (lower palace) is roofed with palm thatch, protected around by the wooden board, worship Pa Thai (mother of Nang Phom Hom), the Temple of mountain god, Main door, road to the temple, garden, and auxiliary works with many surrounding ancient trees.
Experiencing many ups and downs in history, the old Choong Temple is no longer there, but the cultural and spiritual imprints, the imprints of a historical period are still here. Choong Temple has always been an integral part of the synthesis of cultural - historical factors, shaping the unique identity of the land and people of Muong Choong. In order to demonstrate the morality of drinking water, remembering the source of nation and following the aspirations of the ethnic minorities here. In 2013, the Party Committee, government, businesses and people of Quy Hop district decided to carry out renovation work, reconstructing Choong temple right on the old foundation with an area of 41,675.9m2.
The road to the temple has 111 steps, on both sides of the road, a pair of stone dragons are erected as balustrades and added to the majesty of the temple. The special thing is that right to the left of the temple is the display area, preserving the original relics of the old Choong temple. Those are the ancient stones used to raise up the temple columns. The main temple is designed majestically, with a surface consisting of a three-compartments, two-small area, four rooms because with three worshiping palaces: The middle palace is the place to worship Nang Phom Hom and the ancient rice grain. Nang Phom Hom statue is cast in bronze imbued with cultural identity, very charismatic.
The statue is carved in the form of a Thai woman with traditional clothes, wearing a turban, wearing a turban with two rows of buttons in the middle, a skirt engraved with traditional Thai patterns in Muong Choong, kind face, sparkling eyes are looking ahead, two hands placed face down on the lap, the posture is relaxed and comfortable, which has partly described the beauty of the merits – beauty -appropriate speech and moral conduct of the Thai ethnic girl. Ancient rice grains are made of jackfruit wood. The worship of rice grains in the central nave of the main temple expresses the aspiration of agricultural residents for a prosperous life filled with rice; At the same time, people are preserving some ancient and rare artifacts of Nang Phom Hom, who had the merit of collecting food to feed the army to fight the enemy.
The left palace (from outside in) is decorated with Pa Thai worship. The right palace (from outside in) is the place to worship Nang Phom's father. In addition, the temple also has the following works: the temple of the mountain god, the Main door, the festival yard, the semicircular lake and the manager, etc. Currently, the temple is keeping a number of ancient and rare artifacts and many new artifacts to be introduced.
Over hundreds of years of existence, Choong Temple has become the address of cultural and spiritual activities of the people of Muong Choong in the past and Chau Ly in the present, expressing the gratitude of posterity for the ancestors, and praying for the good fortune of the people, protection of the gods. In particular, this is also a relic showing the cultural interference of Kinh - Thai, the emotional bond between the army and the people, love between the rear and the front line, the solidarity between the ethnics. The temple was classified as a provincial historical relic by the People's Committee of Nghe An province according to Decision No. 3051/QD.UBND, dated July 16th, 2015.
