Tuyen Quang Upper and Lower Temples

Two old temples in Tuyên Quang belong together. They are Đền Hạ, the Lower Temple, and Đền Thượng, the Upper Temple.

Đền Hạ stands in Minh Xuân ward. It is also called Đền Hiệp Thuận and Đền Tam Kỳ. The temple was built in 1738 and honors Đức Thánh Mẫu Thượng Thiên. She belongs to the worship of the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms, a traditional Vietnamese belief. The temple has stood in this land for nearly 300 years. In 1992 the Ministry of Culture ranked it a national monument. Its roof has curved eaves, and dragons and phoenixes are molded in relief on the scale tiles. The temple looks quiet and majestic in the middle of the town.

Đền Thượng is in Nông Tiến ward, a short way from the Lower Temple. It is built in the shape of the character Đinh. Đinh is a Chinese character shaped like the letter T. The temple has Dùm Mountain at its back and faces the Lô River. This is a special feng shui position, where land and water gather. The temple honors Mẫu Thoải and was ranked a national monument in 2016. The oldest object it still keeps is a royal decree from the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Cảnh Hưng, which was 1743.

A folk story tied to both temples begins with two princesses, Phương Dung and Ngọc Lân. This is legend, not verified history. Tradition says the two followed the royal procession down to inspect the region, and their boat stopped at the riverbank. In the night a wind rose, and the princesses suddenly flew up to heaven. The people built Đền Hạ to honor Phương Dung on the south bank. Ngọc Lân is honored on the north side of the river, where the boat met the cliff of Dùm Mountain. That place became Đền Thượng.

The two temples are joined by the Mother procession festival, one of the biggest festivals in Tuyên Quang.

The festival runs from the 10th to the 16th day of the second lunar month every year. On the 11th, Princess Phương Dung is carried in procession from Đền Ỷ La to the Lower Temple. On the 12th, Princess Ngọc Lân is carried from the Upper Temple to the Lower Temple, so the two Mothers can meet and share a joint ceremony. On the 16th comes the ceremony of return, when each Mother is taken back to her own temple.

In 2017 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized the festival of the Lower Temple, the Upper Temple and Đền Ỷ La as a national intangible cultural heritage.

UNESCO has recognized the worship of the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms of the Vietnamese people as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The Tuyên Quang festival is a living expression of that practice.

What stands out is that the two temples, though they stand in separate places, are never apart in the spiritual life of Tuyên Quang. Every year the two Mothers meet at Đền Hạ amid drums and gongs, with a crowd carrying palanquins along the bank of the Lô. After the ceremony of return, each goes back to her own place, one with the mountain at its back, one facing the river. It is a rhythm repeated for hundreds of years. Standing by the Lô and looking up at the cliff of Dùm Mountain, a visitor can still feel the place breathing in that rhythm.