Bao Ha Temple

Bao Ha Temple, also called the temple of the Seventh Prince, lies at the foot of Cam hill on the left bank of the Red river in Bao Ha commune, facing Co Tan An temple across the water, about 60 kilometres south east of Lao Cai ward. It was founded late in the Le period, in the Canh Hung era, to honour a general of the Nguyen clan who, according to legend, fought invaders on the Lao Cai frontier. The story goes that he fell in an uneven battle and his body drifted down the Red river to Bao Ha, where villagers recovered and buried him and built a shrine. Emperors Minh Mang and Thieu Tri later granted him honours, and in folk belief he is worshipped as Hoang Bay, one of the ten princes of the mother goddess religion. The temple has a three entrance gate, a courtyard, a shrine to the mountain goddess, a main worship hall and several sanctuaries, and its original structure survives almost entirely. It was recognised as a national relic on 5 November 1997.