Van Thuy Tu Palace – a sacred feature in the fishing village

van thuy tu palace – a sacred feature in a fishing village

Van Thuy Tu Palace – a sacred feature in the fishing village

Dinh Van Thuy Tu

A Brief History of Van Thuy Tu Palace

Van Thuy Tu Palace is located at Ngu Ong Street, Duc Thang Ward, Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province. This is an ancient artistic architecture associated with maritime history and culture. Especially, the custom of worshiping Nam Hai (ong fish) of fishermen in Binh Thuan province in general and Phan Thiet in particular.
According to the beliefs of the seafarers of the South Central Coast in particular and the Vietnamese people in general, the fish Ong is a god who often appears to help them when they encounter storms or accidents at sea, so fishermen respect them very much. Mr. fish is considered the guardian deity.

According to custom, the fisherman who sees “Mr” first will be his “firstborn” and this person is responsible for a thoughtful funeral, mourning after three years of mourning… This shows that a strange custom of the fisherman Ca Ong is the belief of mutual affection between people.

The place of worshiping Nam Than

History of Van Thuy Tu Palace

Going back to the history of Dinh Van Thuy Tu, this palace was built according to ancient documents in the year of Nham Ngo (1762) to worship Ong fish. Initially, the Palace was just a wooden house with thatched roof, then it was built. Gradually adorned with brick walls, yin and yang tile roofs with a total area of more than 500m2. Although it has been through the wind and fog for more than 255 years, this structure is still quite intact. The design, decoration and worship space of Dinh Van Thuy Tu are very similar to the long house, so it can also be called a long communal house.

District’s unique features

The main altar of Van Thuy Tu Palace worships the Nam Hai Cu ethnic Ngoc Lan Ton god (ie Mr. Nam Hai), explores and worships the King of Thailand with the title of Tien Su Ton Than (the ancestor of agriculture and fishery), and worships Thuy Long Thanh. Consort Ton Than (goddess of water).
Cultural heritage – Nom script related to sea making, reflected in the content of worship in temples, statues, diaphragms, couplets, … This place is also one of the ancient relics with many ancient relics. Many ordinations were given by the kings of the Nguyen dynasty, because according to ancient history, the Nguyen kings had merit to fight with the Tay Son dynasty, there were 24 ordinations of the kings: Thieu Tri, Tu Duc, Dong Khanh, Duy Tan , Khai Dinh. King Thieu Tri bestowed 10 ordinations with a large area.
Van Thuy Tu’s campus is called Ngoc Lan Sanctuary, the place where Ong fish is buried when caught and washed up on the mainland.. According to custom, the fisherman who sees “Mr” first will be his “firstborn” son. and this person has the duty to take care of the funeral thoughtfully, after three years of mourning, the funeral will end… This shows that a strange custom of the fisherman Ca Ong is the belief of mutual affection between people.

Van Thuy Tu Palace

What’s special about Van Thuy Tu Palace

A special thing is that Dinh Van Thuy Tu is currently guarding and worshiping a skeleton of Ong fish in the palace, one of the longest and largest gray whales in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, with a length and weight of about 22 m, weighing about 22 m. 65 tons, preserved with almost the entire skeleton. The skeleton is more than 100 years old.
Visitors to the palace can admire the splendor of Mr. Van Thuy Tu Palace is a sacred place and brings a lot of luck to fishermen in Phan Thiet waters

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