The temple of Princess Bàn Tranh, also known by the islanders as the temple of Bà Chúa Xứ, is an ancient temple built by the Cham people in the late 16th century. The temple was ranked a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Decision No. 227/QD-BVHTTDL dated January 28, 2015.
*Temple main gate Công Chúa Bàn Tranh
According to legend, Bàn Tranh was the princess of the Kingdom of Champa, because of a crime she was exiled to the island by her father when she was very young until old age, she could not return to the mainland and after her death, her body was safe. buried here. Around the beginning of the 17th century, the temple was taken over by the Vietnamese, preserved and worshiped to this day.
The temple of Princess Bàn Tranh is located in Long Hai commune, Phu Quy district, Binh Thuan province and has the main direction facing the South; About 500m west of Cao Cat mountain – this is a majestic, poetic mountain and is considered a famous beautiful landscape of Phu Quy island. From Phan Thiet port by sea to the Southeast 56 nautical miles (105km) is to Phu Quy island, from here follow the inter-commune asphalt road through Long Hai commune about 8km to the relic.
The temple of Princess Bàn Tranh represents the step of inheritance, acculturation and cultural fusion of the Vietnamese community when they came to take over and build a life on Phu Quy island. The special thing here is that the belief of worshiping Princess Bàn Tranh has become the most common and sacred belief of the people on the whole island; The annual custodial, worship and sacrifice activities take place alternately between the villages on the island, each village is kept ordained, worshiped and sacrificed for a period of 1 year, next year will rotate to another village. and so on to rotate throughout the villages on the island in sequence.
Since its creation, the temple of Princess Bàn Tranh has undergone nearly 400 years of existence, due to the impact of the harsh sea and island environment, the temple has been restored by generations of Cham and Vietnamese people. embellished many times but still kept the direction of the temple and the tomb of Princess Bàn Tranh in the temple, taking that as the core to place the altar above. In particular, the restoration in 2009 made the appearance of the temple become superficial and dignified with the following items: Main Gate, Flagpole, Screen, Vo Ca and Main Hall distributed on a straight axis; On the right side, slightly skewed to the back in the direction seen from the front is the Smoke house, surrounding the monument is a solid wall system.
The temple of Princess Bàn Tranh also keeps 3 stele worshiping Princess Bàn Tranh carved from blue-gray granite dating back about 400 years. The relics are the diaphragm, couplets, gongs, drums, bells, lampstands, bronze tops, incense burners and 5 consecrations of the Nguyen Dynasty kings conferred to Princess Bàn Tranh. In addition, there are 3 general ordinations for both Princess Bàn Tranh and Master Sai Nai. Master Sai Nai was a merchant who lived in the 16th century, often followed merchant ships across the ocean to many countries to trade and besides trading he was also a good physician. During a voyage, the boat was pushed by a storm to Phu Quy island and at this time there was Princess Bàn Tranh on the island; Master Sài Nại made a sisterhood with the princess, stayed on the island to live, and practiced medicine to help the poor. After his death, he was buried by the people and set up a temple on the island.
*The whole view of the Temple
The temple festival of Princess Bàn Tranh takes place on the 3rd of January every year and this is also the anniversary of her death. On the occasion of the festival, the Temple Management Board organizes a ceremony to invite the ordination of Princess Bàn Tranh in the village that is keeping and worshiping the identity of the temple to perform the ceremony. The delegation departed for the ordination procession at the village where they were keeping their identity, then went through the alleys in the village, then went straight to the temple of Princess Bàn Tranh. The scene of the ordination procession takes place solemnly and respectfully; but equally crowded, bustling with the bustling sound of the festival music that emerges continuously along the way. The sound of the festival blends in between the lines of people directly participating in the ceremony with the lines of people from all over the island villages gathering on both sides of the road and following the ceremony. This is a unique beauty showing the unique cultural nuances with specific characteristics associated with the religious and spiritual life of the islanders for many generations, which is hard to find on the mainland or other islands. another island in Vietnam.
On the occasion of the festival, there are also many types of folklore performances such as Bả Trạo Cheo, Bội singing, Tứ Linh dance, etc., which are unique folk performances of the people of Phu Quy island.
*Pictures of people celebrating at the Temple
