Cross the bridge spanning the gentle current of the Tích River to the west of the ancient citadel of Sơn Tây, and you will enter a shaded semi-mountainous landscape where a low laterite hill rises in the shape of a great turtle stretching its head toward the rising sun. Upon the back of that hill, across more than two thousand square meters shaded all year round by a primeval forest of 245 centuries-old green ironwood trees, stands a solemn architectural complex built of dark red laterite stone and ironwood timber, fronted by an imposing ceremonial gateway and twin two-story, eight-roofed bell and drum towers with curving eaves.
This is Và Temple (Đền Và), known in Sino-Vietnamese characters as Đông Cung (the Eastern Palace) or Vân Già Đông Trấn Cung, the sanctuary that holds the eastern quarter among the Four Palaces of the Đoài region (Tứ cung xứ Đoài) dedicated to Tản Viên Sơn Thánh, the foremost deity among the Four Immortals (Tứ Bất Tử) of Vietnamese folk belief. Preserving architectural layers from the Mạc, Restored Lê and Nguyễn dynasties, Và Temple is also the heart of a grand triennial procession in the years of the Rat, Horse, Cat and Rooster, when the dragon throne and spirit tablets of the Three Holy Deities of Mount Tản Viên are carried across the Red River to Vĩnh Tường, uniting tens of thousands of residents on both banks of the mother river in veneration of the ancestral spirit of flood control and nation-building.
IThe Three Deities of Mount Tản Viên and the role of Đông Cung among the Four Palaces
Và Temple belongs to the tradition of Ancestor Veneration and Indigenous Spirit Worship (Ancestor Veneration) of the ancient Vietnamese communities around the foot of Mount Ba Vì. The supreme figures venerated in the Upper Sanctuary (Thượng cung) of Và Temple are the Three Holy Deities of Mount Tản Viên (addressed in royal investiture edicts as Tản Viên Sơn Tam vị Quốc Chúa Đại Vương Thượng Đẳng Thần), led by Tản Viên Sơn Thánh (popularly known as Sơn Tinh, whose personal name in the temple genealogy is Nguyễn Tuấn), together with his two paternal cousins, Cao Sơn Đại Vương (Nguyễn Sùng) and Quý Minh Đại Vương (Nguyễn Hiển). Behind the Upper Sanctuary stands a seven-bay Rear Sanctuary (Hậu cung) dedicated to Holy Mother Đinh Thị Đen (the mother of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh), while the Front Hall (Tiền tế) also honors the Four Maiden Attendants (Tứ vị Hồng Nương, four virtuous maidens of Vân Già Hamlet who cut grass, tended buffaloes and waited upon the Saint when he rested on the ironwood hill).
Regarding the place name Vân Già (雲遮, pronounced in vernacular Nôm as Vân Gia and shortened to Và), the sacred genealogy and stone stelae at the temple record that in ancient times, after receiving his miraculous staff and book of wishes, Tản Viên Sơn Thánh traveled across the Mount Tản and Đà River region teaching the people how to control floods, cultivate wet rice, hunt and weave silk. On one journey eastward from Mount Ba Vì to the green ironwood hill beside the Tích River, seeing the serene landscape and the terrain shaped like a sacred turtle facing the rising sun, he paused to rest. At that moment, a five-colored cloud appeared in the sky and covered the entire hilltop like a celestial parasol. From that auspicious sign of an auspicious sheltering cloud (Vân Già), he ordered a traveling palace built facing east. Local residents thereafter called the settlement Vân Già Hamlet and named the shrine on the ironwood hill Và Temple.
Within the sacred geography of the Đoài cultural region surrounding ancestral Mount Ba Vì, Và Temple serves as Đông Cung (the Eastern Palace) within the system of the Four Palaces (Tứ cung) of the four cardinal directions. The philosophy of the Four Palaces reflects the traditional agricultural cosmology of the Vietnamese people: the three-peaked summit of Mount Tản Viên at the center acts as the cosmic axis linking heaven and earth, while four major temples positioned to the east, west, south and north serve as the four palaces where the Saint presides to radiate vital energy and protect the populace from floods and foreign invasion. At Đông Cung (Và Temple), the east corresponds to the Chấn trigram, the Wood element, spring and the dawn of life, and the temple stands directly amidst a primeval forest of green ironwood trees (likewise belonging to the Wood element), creating a complete harmony between direction, five-element cosmology and natural landscape.
When examining the list of the four temples that make up the Four Palaces of the Đoài region across Sino-Vietnamese texts and local gazetteers of Sơn Tây and Phú Thọ, the library notes two traditional classifications that differ regarding the northern and western palaces, and records both for comparison. According to the first classification, widely used in national heritage dossiers and festival traditions across Sơn Tây and Thanh Thủy: the Eastern Palace (Đông Cung) is Và Temple (Sơn Tây Ward, Hanoi), the Southern Palace (Nam Cung) is Lăng Sương Temple (Tu Vũ Commune, former Thanh Thủy District, Phú Thọ Province, where Holy Mother Đinh Thị Đen gave birth to the Saint), the Western Palace (Tây Cung) is Hạ Temple (together with Trung Temple at the western foot of the mountain in Minh Quang Commune, former Ba Vì District, Hanoi), and the Northern Palace (Bắc Cung) is Thượng Temple on the summit of Mount Tản Viên Ba Vì. By contrast, according to a second classification preserved in several villages northeast of Mount Ba Vì, Đông Cung remains Và Temple and Nam Cung remains Lăng Sương Temple, while Tây Cung refers to the shrines on the slopes of Mount Ba Vì (or Măng Sơn Temple) and Bắc Cung refers to the shrine on the southern bank of the Red River facing Vĩnh Tường. Under either tradition, the status of Và Temple as Đông Cung has remained unchanged throughout history.
Many visitors who hear that Và Temple honors the Three Holy Deities of Mount Tản Viên assume that the three statues inside the three great tabernacles of the Upper Sanctuary represent three manifestations of Sơn Tinh alone, or Sơn Tinh alongside two generals of different clans. In fact, according to the sacred biography Tản Viên Sơn Thánh compiled by East Cabinet Grand Academician Nguyễn Bính in the first year of the Hồng Phúc era (1572), the three deities are three blood cousins: the central seat belongs to Tản Viên Sơn Thánh Nguyễn Tuấn (son of Nguyễn Cao Hành and Lady Đinh Thị Đen), while the left and right seats belong to the two sons of his paternal uncle Nguyễn Cao Đạt, namely Cao Sơn Đại Vương Nguyễn Sùng and Quý Minh Đại Vương Nguyễn Hiển, who aided Sơn Tinh and King Hùng Duệ Vương in repelling the Thục forces and safeguarding the realm.
IIFounding history and major restorations recorded on stone stelae
The history of Và Temple spans more than a millennium, evolving from an ancient traveling shrine beneath the ironwood canopy during the Tang domination and early independence eras into one of the grandest palace-style temple complexes of Sơn Tây Governorate under the Lý, Trần, Mạc, Restored Lê and Nguyễn dynasties.
The most important written document preserved at the temple is the four-sided stone stele Vân Già Đông Trấn Cung ký (雲遮東鎮宮記), erected in the 36th year of Emperor Tự Đức (Quý Mùi, 1883) and composed by the Governor-General of Sơn Hưng Tuyên together with Confucian laureates of the Đoài region. Regarding the initial founding date of the shrine, historical records and local traditions preserve two complementary accounts. According to the 1883 stele inscription and Sơn Tây oral tradition, a shrine was first established here during the Tang dynasty period of Chinese rule (roughly the 7th to 9th centuries), when indigenous Vietnamese communities around Mount Tản erected a sanctuary to the spirit of Mount Tản Viên to affirm native sacred authority. By the 10th and 11th centuries (under the Đinh, Early Lê and Lý dynasties), the independent royal court granted official investiture edicts and expanded the site into the great eastern palace of the Mount Tản cult.
The oldest surviving physical artifact directly on the roofs of Và Temple today is the pair of greyish-brown terracotta roof ridge beasts (con kìm) atop the ridge of the Front Hall, sculpted in the vigorous style of the Mạc dynasty (16th century). During the Restored Lê and Nguyễn dynasties, when the administrative seat of Sơn Tây was established near Vân Gia Hamlet, Và Temple became the principal venue where provincial mandarins and court envoys prayed for rain (đảo vũ) and offered state sacrifices. Stone stelae and roof-beam inscriptions record four major restorations that shaped the present complex: an expansion of the Front Hall in the 10th year of Minh Mạng (1829) just prior to the founding of Sơn Tây Province in 1831, a restoration and stele erection in the 36th year of Tự Đức (1883), a comprehensive reconstruction in the 14th year of Thành Thái (1902) that rebuilt the Upper Sanctuary and the bell and drum towers, and a renovation in the 7th year of Bảo Đại (1932). On 3 January 1964, the Ministry of Culture issued Decision No. 29-VH/QĐ ranking Và Temple as a National Historical and Cultural Heritage Site. On 19 January 2016, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 246/QĐ-BVHTTDL inscribing the Và Temple Traditional Festival on the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Administratively, under Resolution No. 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15 effective 1 July 2025, Vân Gia Hamlet (formerly in Trung Hưng Ward, former Sơn Tây Town) was merged into the newly established Sơn Tây Ward of Hanoi.
- 7th - 10th c.Founding of the Vân Già traveling palace on Ironwood HillAccording to the 1883 Vân Già Đông Trấn Cung ký stele and Đoài tradition, the shrine originated in the Tang era (7th - 9th centuries) and received royal investiture and expansion under the Đinh and Early Lê dynasties in the 10th century.
- 16th centuryMạc dynasty restoration and terracotta ridge beastsThe temple underwent major repairs under the Mạc dynasty, leaving behind a pair of 16th-century terracotta dragon-and-cloud ridge beasts still preserved atop the Front Hall.
- 1740 - 1786Royal investiture edicts of the Cảnh Hưng eraKing Lê Hiển Tông issued multiple royal edicts honoring the Three Supreme Deities of Mount Tản Viên, initiating the collection of 18 royal edicts preserved at the temple today.
- 1829 - 1883Minh Mạng expansion and Tự Đức stone steleIn the 10th year of Minh Mạng (1829), officials and residents of Sơn Tây restored the Front Hall. In the 36th year of Tự Đức (1883), the four-sided stele Vân Già Đông Trấn Cung ký was erected to chronicle the temple's history.
- 1902 - 1932Grand restorations under Emperors Thành Thái and Bảo ĐạiIn the 14th year of Thành Thái (1902) and the 7th year of Bảo Đại (1932), the complex was comprehensively rebuilt on its inner-Công outer-Quốc plan with laterite walls, bell and drum towers, and the Rear Sanctuary.
- 1964Ranked as a National Historical and Cultural Heritage SiteOn 3 January 1964, the Ministry of Culture signed Decision No. 29-VH/QĐ recognizing Và Temple as a National Heritage Site.
- 2016National Intangible Cultural Heritage and 85 Vietnam Heritage TreesOn 19 January 2016, the Và Temple Festival was inscribed as National Intangible Cultural Heritage under Decision No. 246/QĐ-BVHTTDL. In the same year, 85 ancient ironwood trees around the temple were recognized as Vietnam Heritage Trees.
- 2025Incorporated into the new Sơn Tây Ward under Resolution 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15From 1 July 2025, Vân Gia Hamlet (formerly part of Trung Hưng Ward, former Sơn Tây Town) officially became part of the newly formed Sơn Tây Ward under Hanoi City.
IIIInner-Công outer-Quốc laterite architecture amidst 245 ancient ironwood trees
The architectural complex of Và Temple occupies roughly 2,000 square meters on the crest of Vân Già Hill, enclosed by perimeter walls built entirely of dark reddish-brown Sơn Tây laterite stone (đá ong) in a symmetrical inner-Công outer-Quốc (nội công ngoại quốc) layout. What sets Và Temple apart from every other temple in the northern delta is the primeval green ironwood forest (rừng lim) covering about 6.8 hectares around the hill. According to local conservation inventories, the forest preserves 245 ancient ironwood trees ranging from several hundred to nearly a thousand years old, their moss-covered trunks supporting a dense canopy, among them, the 85 largest ironwood trees were officially designated as Vietnam Heritage Trees by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment in 2016.
Walking along the sacred axis from the southeastern foot of the hill into the heart of the sanctuary, visitors pass through a sequence of architectural spaces. Outside the gate stand a laterite spirit screen and the Five Tigers Shrine (miếu Ngũ Hổ) beneath old ironwood trees, followed by the three-bay Ceremonial Gateway (Nghi môn) built with gable walls and four monumental pillars. Beyond the Nghi môn lies a wide brick-paved courtyard flanked on the left and right by the Bell Tower (Gác chuông) and Drum Tower (Gác trống), built in two-tier, eight-roofed style with soaring curved eaves and round upper windows reminiscent of Khuê Văn Các and the bell tower of Thầy Pagoda. Extending along both sides of the courtyard are the seven-bay Left and Right Side Halls (Tả mạc and Hữu mạc), where offerings are prepared and village elders assemble during festivals.
The Front Hall, Công-shaped Upper Sanctuary, Rear Sanctuary and ancient artifacts
At the center of the inner court stands the Front Hall (Tiền tế), spanning five main bays and two side bays on a raised laterite platform. Its ironwood frame employs stacked beams with a gong-stand truss above and carved spandrels and brackets below, adorned with dragons, unicorns, turtles, phoenixes and the four seasons, atop its roof ridge still sit the pair of 16th-century Mạc dynasty terracotta ridge beasts. The central bay of the Front Hall houses the altar of the Four Maiden Attendants (Tứ vị Hồng Nương). From the Front Hall, a longitudinal Incense Hall (Ống muống / Thiêu hương) leads into the Upper Sanctuary (Thượng cung), forming a classic Công (工) plan. Inside the solemn Upper Sanctuary stand three monumental gilded and lacquered wooden tabernacles (khám thờ) over 3 meters tall, intricately carved in openwork with dragons flanking the moon, phoenixes holding scrolls and Restored Lê spiral motifs, within them rest the dragon thrones, spirit tablets and statues of the Three Holy Deities of Mount Tản Viên (Tản Viên Sơn Thánh at the center, flanked by Cao Sơn Đại Vương and Quý Minh Đại Vương).
Separated from the Upper Sanctuary by a narrow courtyard stands the seven-bay Rear Sanctuary (Hậu cung), dedicated to Holy Mother Đinh Thị Đen. Today, Và Temple safeguards a rich collection of Sino-Vietnamese documents and ritual objects: 18 royal investiture edicts issued by the Restored Lê dynasty (from the Cảnh Hưng era in 1740 to Chiêu Thống) and the Nguyễn dynasty (from Gia Long, Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị and Tự Đức to Khải Định in 1924), four ancient stone stelae (notably the 1883 Vân Già Đông Trấn Cung ký), an antique Nguyễn dynasty bronze bell, dozens of gilded horizontal boards (such as Đông Cung and Nam Thiên Thánh Tổ) and parallel sentences, as well as eight-bearer palanquins and ceremonial weapons.
A 6.8-hectare primeval ironwood forest encircling Vân Già Hill with 245 centuries-old trees, of which the 85 largest specimens were recognized as Vietnam Heritage Trees in 2016.
A three-bay Nghi môn combining Sơn Tây laterite with heavy timber columns, opening onto a courtyard flanked symmetrically by two-story, eight-roofed Bell and Drum Towers.
A grand five-bay, two-wing hall for grand sacrifices and the veneration of the Four Maiden Attendants, preserving a pair of 16th-century Mạc dynasty terracotta ridge beasts on its roof.
The innermost sacred hall housing three 3-meter-tall gilded wooden tabernacles carved with dragons from the 17th to 19th centuries, enshrining the statues and tablets of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh, Cao Sơn Đại Vương and Quý Minh Đại Vương.
Sino-Vietnamese documentary heritage comprising 18 royal edicts from the Lê Cảnh Hưng era to the Nguyễn Khải Định era and a four-sided stone stele erected in the 36th year of Tự Đức (1883).
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional form-school feng shui on the ground at Vân Già Hill and the Tích River basin, not something recorded in the temple's stone stelae. We state this plainly so that readers can distinguish historical documentation from geomantic interpretation.
Situated in the semi-mountainous terrain of Sơn Tây at coordinates 21.13862 degrees North latitude and 105.48549 degrees East longitude, Và Temple stands atop Vân Già Hill (Ironwood Hill), a freestanding laterite mound rising amidst low-lying riverside fields. In classical form-school geomancy, Vân Già Hill takes the shape of a giant sacred turtle (Linh Quy) resting beneath the ancient ironwood canopy: its head stretches eastward toward the rising sun (matching the title Đông Cung, the Eastern Palace), while its four legs and shell form the solid laterite foundation supporting the inner sanctuary. The dragon vein (long mạch) of Ironwood Hill branches out from the ancestral mountain of Ba Vì (Mount Tản Viên) to the southwest, coursing across the laterite hills of Trung Sơn Trầm and Đường Lâm before forming the node (huyệt) right beside the left bank of the Tích River (Tích Giang).
In terms of mountain-and-facing orientation and water layout, the main architectural axis of Và Temple (from the Ceremonial Gateway through the Front Hall to the Upper and Rear Sanctuaries) is aligned along a Northwest to Southeast axis (sitting Càn facing Tốn, facing southeast by south). This orientation brings together two layers of geomantic meaning: directly in front of the temple to the south and southeast lie low water-gathering fields and the meandering curve of the Tích River, which embraces the foot of the hill as the inner bright hall (Minh đường) and a jade-belt water course that gathers qi. Farther to the southwest, the three-peaked summit of Mount Tản Viên rises on the horizon as the great ancestral screen protecting the palace. Above all, the ring of 245 centuries-old ironwood trees surrounding all four sides of the hill acts as a living Wood-element rampart that blocks cold northern winter winds, retains moisture and shelters the vital qi of the Eastern Palace.
VThe Và Temple Festival and the triennial palanquin procession across the Red River
Inscribed as National Intangible Cultural Heritage in early 2016, the Và Temple Festival is one of the largest and most ancient regional festivals of the Đoài region and the Red River Delta, uniting eight ancient villages that share the cult of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh: seven villages in former Sơn Tây Town (Vân Gia, Thanh Trì, Ái Mộ, Phú Nhi, Phù Sa, Mai Trai and Nghĩa Phủ) and one village on the northern bank of the Red River, Duy Bình Hamlet (formerly in Vĩnh Ninh Commune, former Vĩnh Tường District, former Vĩnh Phúc Province, now in Phú Thọ Province).
The culminating event of the festival is the Grand Triennial Procession (crossing the river), held only once every three years in the years of the Rat, Horse, Cat and Rooster (Tý, Ngọ, Mão, Dậu) from the 14th to the 17th day of the first lunar month. Before dawn on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month (the Full Moon), tens of thousands of villagers escort three grand palanquins (the Dragon Throne palanquin carrying the tablets of the Three Deities of Mount Tản Viên, the Ritual Text palanquin and the Hồng Nương palanquin) from Và Temple through the streets of Sơn Tây to the Red River bank, boarding dragon boats to cross the Red River to Ngự Dội Temple in Duy Bình Hamlet. At Ngự Dội Temple, village elders perform the Bathing Rite (lễ Mộc dục), drawing ancient well water mixed with Red River water to reenact the legend of Tản Viên Sơn Thánh pausing at Duy Bình during his travels and being bathed with river water carried by two local maidens. After completing the grand sacrifice at Ngự Dội Temple, the palanquins recross the Red River by boat and return to their thrones at Và Temple amid resounding drums and gongs.
| Lunar date | Festival name | Key rituals and cultural activities |
|---|---|---|
| 14th to 17th of the 1st lunar month (Rat, Horse, Cat, Rooster years) | Triennial Grand Festival of Và Temple | Grand procession of the three palanquins and spirit tablets of the Three Deities of Mount Tản Viên from Và Temple across the Red River to Ngự Dội Temple (Duy Bình Hamlet) for the Bathing Rite and return procession, uniting eight villages. |
| 14th to 17th of the 1st lunar month (ordinary years) | Annual Spring Festival | Performance of the Bathing Rite, spring sacrifices by the eight villages and incense offerings honoring Tản Viên Sơn Thánh within the grounds of Và Temple without crossing the Red River. |
| 14th and 15th of the 9th lunar month | Autumn Festival (Fish-Catching Feast / Tiệc Đả ngư) | Traditional fish-catching rite on the Tích River: villagers select the largest white carp and grass carp to prepare 99 trays of fish offerings (raw fish salad, grilled fish, fish soup) presented to the Three Deities. |
| 1st and 15th of every lunar month | Twice-monthly new and full moon rites | Elders of Vân Gia Hamlet and residents of Sơn Tây Ward offer incense, flowers, betel and areca nuts and glutinous rice cakes to pray for peace at Đông Cung. |
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Đồi Lim, thôn Vân Gia, phường Sơn Tây (phường Trung Hưng cũ, thị xã Sơn Tây cũ), thành phố Hà Nội
- Getting there
- From central Hanoi, follow National Highway 32 west for about 42 kilometers to the center of Sơn Tây Ward (former Sơn Tây Town), then continue from the Ancient Citadel of Sơn Tây along Đền Và Road across the Tích River bridge for about 2 kilometers to reach Ironwood Hill and Và Temple.
- Coordinates
- 21.13862, 105.48549
When visiting Và Temple, you are entering a centuries-old heritage ironwood forest and an ancient place of worship of the Đoài region. Visitors are asked to dress modestly, walk softly and speak quietly inside the Front Hall, Upper Sanctuary and Rear Sanctuary, refrain from burning excessive incense coils or votive paper near the historic timber structures, and never carve on the trunks of the ancient ironwood trees or litter beneath the heritage forest canopy.
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VIIContribute To This Page
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?Quick Questions
Who is worshipped at Và Temple and why is it called Đông Cung?
Và Temple primarily honors the Three Holy Deities of Mount Tản Viên: Tản Viên Sơn Thánh (Sơn Tinh, the foremost of Vietnam's Four Immortals) and his two paternal cousins, Cao Sơn Đại Vương and Quý Minh Đại Vương, alongside Holy Mother Đinh Thị Đen in the Rear Sanctuary and the Four Maiden Attendants in the Front Hall. It bears the Sino-Vietnamese title Đông Cung (Eastern Palace) because it guards the eastern quarter among the Four Palaces surrounding Mount Tản Viên.
Which temples make up the Four Palaces of the Đoài region dedicated to Tản Viên Sơn Thánh?
According to the historical and festival tradition of the Sơn Tây and Phú Thọ region, the Four Palaces surrounding ancestral Mount Ba Vì guard the four cardinal directions: the Eastern Palace (Đông Cung) is Và Temple (Sơn Tây Ward, Hanoi), the Southern Palace (Nam Cung) is Lăng Sương Temple (Tu Vũ Commune, Phú Thọ Province, birthplace of the Saint), the Western Palace (Tây Cung) is Hạ Temple at the western foot of the mountain, and the Northern Palace (Bắc Cung) is Thượng Temple on the summit of Mount Tản Viên Ba Vì.
When does the palanquin procession across the Red River take place and what does it signify?
The grand procession carrying the Dragon Throne and spirit tablets of the Three Deities of Mount Tản Viên across the Red River to Ngự Dội Temple (Duy Bình Hamlet on the northern bank) takes place once every three years at dawn on the Full Moon of the first lunar month in the years of the Rat, Horse, Cat and Rooster. The rite reenacts the legend of two Duy Bình maidens carrying Red River water to bathe Tản Viên Sơn Thánh during his travels and binds together eight villages on both banks of the river.
How many trees are in the ironwood forest around Và Temple and what makes them special?
Surrounding the turtle-shaped hill of Và Temple is a primeval green ironwood forest covering about 6.8 hectares with 245 centuries-old ironwood trees. In 2016, the 85 largest ancient ironwood trees in this forest were officially recognized as Vietnam Heritage Trees by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment.
Following the 2025 administrative reorganization, which ward of Hanoi does Và Temple belong to?
Prior to 1 July 2025, Và Temple was located in Vân Gia Hamlet, Trung Hưng Ward, Sơn Tây Town, Hanoi. Under Resolution No. 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in 2025, the Vân Gia area of former Trung Hưng Ward was merged into the newly established Sơn Tây Ward directly under Hanoi City.