I arrived at the northern border town on a late autumn day. Following the introduction of the local people in the border area, I had the opportunity to visit the Dong Dang Mother Temple - a sacred place of worship in Lang Son.
Leading me to visit the temple leaning against the mountainside, facing the center of Dong Dang town, Mr. Luong Minh Hoang - a local resident - shared: "Along with Bac Le temple (Huu Lung district) and Ky Cung temple (Lang Son city), Dong Dang Mau temple is one of the places tourists often visit when coming to Lang Son".
According to the stone stele at the temple gate, Dong Dang Mau Temple was first built around the 19th century on a stone roof near the foot of the mountain, about 300m northeast of its current location.
A few decades later, realizing that the place was cramped and not very convenient for worship, the local people moved the temple to its current location and built a small incense burner for worship. Since 1990, the local people have contributed to rebuild the temple.
“According to legend, Lieu Hanh was the daughter of the Jade Emperor, whose name was Quynh Hoa. After her term in heaven expired but she still had a predestined relationship with the mortal world, she often appeared to help people, often traveled to mountains and rivers, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery in many places. When she traveled to Lang Son, she saw a pagoda located in a beautiful landscape but few people came to visit. Grass covered her footprints, the statue and stele were covered with dust. She sat leaning against a pine tree, played the lute, sang praises to the animals of the mountains and forests, and waited for the first-ranking scholar Phung Khac Khoan when he had just returned from his mission to China. Using poetry and dialogue, she gently reminded the first-ranking scholar to restore the beautiful but abandoned pagoda in this border area. Immediately after the meeting, Phung Khac Khoan recognized her as Princess Lieu Hanh, immediately handed over a sum of money, asked the elders here to repair the pagoda, and wrote a poem on the left corridor before leaving. The verse is: “Tung lam tich mich phat nhan gia”, meaning deep and quiet forest has a Buddhist temple. Later, the pagoda was restored to become the Dong Dang Mau temple as it is today,” said Mr. Hoang.
Over hundreds of years of historical ups and downs, Mau Temple has been restored and renovated many times. Today, the temple is spacious and majestic with 5 worship areas.
According to locals, the main festival of Mau Lang Son Temple takes place on January 10, but since the first days of the new year, locals and visitors from all over have made pilgrimages to the temple to offer prayers for peace, luck, and prosperity. Not only do people come at the beginning of the year, they also often come to the temple to worship around September and October of the lunar calendar.
Speaking to reporters, Ms. Hoang Thi Minh Thao - Chairman of Dong Dang Town People's Committee - said that each year the temple welcomes about 150,000 - 180,000 visitors from all over the country to worship.
According to Ms. Thao, since 2021, the Town People's Committee has completed the Mau Temple Relic Management Board with 9 members, and regularly inspected and corrected violations in the use and exploitation of relic values, and handled negative and anti-cultural behaviors. The relic management board also organizes annual festivals to ensure good customs and traditions, in accordance with State regulations.
