Voi Phuc Temple
The temple derives its name from two kneeling elephants guarding the gate. Located in Hanoi’s Thu Le botanical garden, this temple was built in the Ly Thai Tong Dynasty (1028-54) near West Lake, and was dedicated to Linh Lang, son of King Ly Thai Tong.
According to legend, the King’s wife was confronted by a dragon, and became pregnant. When the child was born, he had dragon scales and lights twinkling like pearls on his chest. As an adult, he led the army to expel invaders. The grateful king wanted to abdicate in his favour, but Linh Lang refused. He was transformed into a black dragon entangled around a stone slab and disappeared into West Lake. The king ordered a temple to be built on the site.
The Voi Phuc Temple still contains two bronze statues and a large concave stone slab. It’s in an attractive wooded landscape beside a pond, a calm and harmonious ambiance conducive to contemplation.
Voi Phuc Festival
The Voi Phuc Temple Festival is usually organized from the 9th to the 11th day of the second lunar month. The Voi Phuc Temple Festival is the common festive day of the whole village, the whole district so that it is very crowed and only held every five-year.
This is a grand procession festival with flags, fans, gongs, drums, parasols, bat am (cantanets) musical band and senh tien group dancing. On the lake dragon boat moves around. Cultural activities take place during 3 days such as reciting poem, exhibiting pictures and poem in Han script (calligraphy), quan ho singing, chess playing...
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