17. Hon Ba Pagoda

At the end of the 18^th century (1781), a small temple was built on the island to worship the Female Water Dragon Divine – who plays the role of regulating the climate so that the weather is favorable and the fishermen can do business in peace and go fishing smoothly with good luck. Therefore, the temple is called Mieu Ba, also known as Hon Ba. The word Ba here refers to the Female Water Dragon Divine. Over the past 200 years, Thang Tam villagers have repeatedly contributed funds, repaired and embellished to become a spacious place of worship.

The architecture of Hon Ba temple consists of the gate and the main hall. The gate is 2 straight pillars made of reinforced concrete that support the entire tiled roof. The top edge of the roof is decorated with the stylized motif “Two dragons flanking the sun” (pair of dragons flanking the sun). Tourists go to visit Hon Ba temple along the stepped path made of concrete from the gate to the main hall and then turn around to the gate. The main hall is open to the Southeast, in the style of four-pillar architecture, consisting of two floors of eight roofs (symbolically), tiled, painted red, on the roof banks and fringes decorated in the shape of a stylized phoenix. The upper floor is scaled down and expanded in four directions, then rises completely above to create a square architectural block at a smaller scale than the lower floor, for the purpose of both heat protection and decoration. This type of architecture includes four roofs below and four roofs above, all sloping out to all four sides… The main hall is Female Water Dragon Divine, also known as Mau Thoai, the Vietnamese folk goddess responsible for the management of marine and river regions. Mau Thoai is omnipresent to help people every time they cross the rivers. Whenever an area experiences drought, the mother sends soldiers to take care of making rain. In any area experiencing storms and floods, the mother will perform magic to calm the wind and stop the rain. Due to the presence of Mau Thoai’s divine generals, the sea monsters and pirates cannot act arbitrarily. In the spiritual conception of traditional folk beliefs of the Vietnamese people, Female Water Dragon Divine always means the image of a gentle, capable mother who worries, helps, and blesses residents living in coastal or river areas throughout her life.

Inside the shrine at the center, there is an altar will 5 votive tablets and five statues of Ngu Hanh Nuong Nuong with the names of the Ngu Duc Thanh Phi including: Kim Duc Thanh Phi, Moc Duc Thanh Phi, Thuy Duc Thanh Phi, Hoa Duc Thanh Phi and Tho Duc Thanh Phi. According to the conception of the ancient Eastern philosophical system, these are the five goddesses representing the five basic material elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth) to form the universe. The meaning of the belief in worshiping the Ngu Duc Thanh Phi at Hon Ba shrine is of memorial, gratitude and humanity, this place can be called the temple of the universe…

In the future, it is expected that there will be an art bridge that is suitable for the landscape, environmental conditions, geographical location to connect from the foot of Little Mountain to the island and restore and embellish Hon Ba temple. This place will become a tourist attraction for scenery and spirituality of the coastal city of Vung Tau.