Dinh Bang (communal house) and Do Temple

Written by Jimmy Vu (info@vietnamimpressive.com)
Friday, 30 June 2006

30 km to the North from Hanoi, Đình Bảng Communal House was built in 1736 in Dinh Bang village where used to be the fatherland of Kings Ly (the Ly dynasty) during their reign of 1010-1225. The house still remains its distinctive features of 18th architecture, particularly the roof and the main pillars. This house was also the place where held lots of revolutionary activities during pre-uprising period. Not far from Dinh Bang, there is a complex of historical sites and traditional craft villages that you can easily have access to such as the Temple of Do, Quỳnh Lâm pagoda, Đồng Kỵ wood-carving village and Đông Hồ folk-painting village, etc.

5 minutes of driving from Dinh Bang village via local road systems shows the Temple of Do (Đền Đô). Entrance fee is not compulsory but car or motorcycle parking fee is payable (see the table below). According to legend, the original temple of Do is one of the most traditional temples in the suburb of Hanoi.

This temple is dedicated to 8 King Ly who led Vietnam, formerly Dai Viet, fought against the Tong invaders and caused them to flee away. Unfortunately, the origin was completely destroyed by French colonialist in 1952. In order to meet the wish of local people and in honor of Kings Ly, the current temple was rebuilt in 1989. At present, when come to visit, you have a chance to see 8 statues of Kings Ly and of the Queen Y Lan are worshiped in this temple. A festival would yearly be held to pay homage to Kings Ly falling on 15th to 17th of the third lunar month.