The mysteries of the most sacred temple in Nghe An - Con Temple

There is a Vietnamese temple in Hoang Mai that worships the Southern Song god but has great contributions to the villagers. That is Con temple, a spiritual destination for people near and far with the beauty of sacredness and thrilling stories with a strong supernatural color passed down by word of mouth among the people.

Stories imbued with supernatural colors

Con Temple in Quynh Phuong Ward, Hoang Mai Town, Nghe An has long been known as one of the important spiritual cultural features of the people of Ke Can Village (now Phuong Can Village) in particular and the people of Nghe An in general. Con Temple is always bustling with people coming and going, vehicles covering the gate, incense smoke billowing. "Anyone who is sincere and has something to ask for should come to Con Temple, they will definitely love them. Those who dare to offend will receive tragic consequences", that is the comment of Ms. Nguyen Thi Mui (67 years old) - the person who was born and attached to the development of Con Temple relic.

Con Temple is divided into Con Temple inside and Con Temple outside, forming a unified entity of “two in one”. However, one temple is located inland, the other is located outside the estuary. Con Temple inside is located on Diec hill, facing the poetic Mai Giang river, behind the temple are two small hills rising like phoenix wings, located in a rare feng shui position “head leaning on mountain, feet stepping on water” worshiping the Four Holy Ladies of the South Sea, the great nation. Con Temple outside is about 1km from Con Temple inside, deep into the village, located on the Than Lan mountain range, at the estuary of Con Lach.

When mentioning Con Temple, the elders in the village often sit and tell their descendants thrilling and mysterious stories. In the past, there was a man in the village named TM. Because of his arrogant nature, Mr. M never believed that the sacred stories at Con Temple were real. Until one time, when he entered the temple to visit the scenery, he used his hand to stroke the faces of the gods with a joking and teasing attitude. Stepping out of the temple door, Mr. M felt tired and weak. In the following days, he stopped eating and drinking, and was absent-minded as if he had lost his soul. After that, Mr. M himself had to personally go out to pray sincerely so that the saints of Con Temple "forgave" him. The people here have been fishermen for generations, so every time they go out to sea, they quietly go to Con Temple to pray for a smooth trip, calm seas, hoping that the gods will protect them and bring them back safely with a full hold of shrimp and fish.

The "divine" wood has a human soul

Even the thousand-year-old wooden panels and pillars at Con Temple have many legends. A long time ago, no one remembers which year, because the elders in the village only heard the story, that year there was a huge flood, after the water receded, a piece of agarwood got stuck in the old ferry dock, so the people of Ke Can village pulled it to shore. Strangely, whoever touched the piece of wood bled, so everyone was scared.

An experienced old man in the village thought that something was strange and set up an altar to pray: "If it is a poisonous piece of wood, let it float down the river. If it is a divine spirit, don't make people bleed anymore, but lie still so we can bring it back to worship." After saying that, the piece of wood lay still, and everyone who touched it was fine! Up to now, that sacred piece of wood has been made into a pillar in the Con Temple. After the test of time, the rain of bombs and bullets of war, those temple pillars have not changed at all. The people here firmly believe that it is because the bodies of the Queen Mother and her four children entered the agarwood piece that it became so strangely miraculous. Mrs. Mui recounted: "During the resistance war, the French and American troops fired a lot of bombs and bullets into the village. Roads, houses, and fields were devastated, but not a single bomb hit the temple, they all fell into the Mai Giang River, so the Con Temple is intact as it is today."

Legend has it that the Four Holy Ladies of Con Temple are very sacred. If anyone dares to take anything from the temple, even a leaf or a branch, they will have to accept sad consequences and must return it to be at peace. Mr. Phan Van Hoa (72 years old, in Quang Trung block, Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town, Nghe An) recounted that in the past, in the village, there were two elementary school teachers who, because they lacked rulers to teach their students, went to Con Temple to take some wooden sticks to use as rulers. When they returned home, while they were in good health, one of the teachers suddenly lost all her hair and her head was bare. Thinking that the teacher had some illness, her family took her to be treated, but no hospital could detect the illness. Strangely enough, the teacher who was with her also showed similar symptoms. Knowing that they had "offended" the saints, when they heard the village elders' advice, the two teachers prepared offerings and knelt down in front of the temple to apologize. Not long after, their hair grew back and their health stabilized.

In historical records, Con Temple worships “The Four Holy Mothers of the South Sea, the Great Can Nation” and has a history of nearly 1,000 years, but some say that Mother Goddess worship is the soul of Con Temple. In addition, in the past, it worshiped the God of Rice, the God of Rivers, and the God of the Sea, which is associated with the wish for fertility in the harvest season and fishing. According to tradition, every January 19 to 21, Phuong Can villagers and visitors from all over bring offerings here to commemorate the merits of the Holy Mother Goddesses and participate in the festival.

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