Geographical location
Dam Temple is located in Xam Duong village, Ninh So commune, Thuong Tin district. From Huu Hong dike, you turn about 300m to get there. The temple was granted 6 ordinations, from the reign of King Le Than Tong to the reign of King Khai Dinh. 
Dam Temple worships Thuy Cung Thanh Mau, also known as Mau Thoai – the Holy Mother who governs the river region. Because of her virtue, she was honored as the Third Holy Mother in the worship of the Holy Mother. Legend has it that this holy mother was the daughter of Long Vuong, who had merit in helping King Tran Nhan Tong fight the Yuan army. Returning victorious, he built Xam Duong temple (also known as Dam Temple) and Xam Thi temple, both worshiping Mother Thoai.
Dam Temple is located in a cluster of spiritual relics including: Cong Minh Pagoda, Mau Cuu Temple, Dam Temple located close to each other and Dai Lo Temple about 200 meters away, which we will visit later.
The Temple of Dam worships the Third Mother – Mother Thoai (also known as Thoai Cung), one of the Three Holy Mothers according to the Vietnamese mind, next to the First Mother – Thuong Thien and the Second Mother – Thuong Ngan.
History of Dam Temple According
to folklore, Mother Thuong Thien governs in general, Mau Thuong Ngan governs the mountains and forests, and Mau Thoai governs the rivers. Folklore also believes that rivers are associated with fertility and proliferation. If they want to pray for a bountiful harvest, lush trees, and full house fortune, they often pray to Mau Thoai.
For the followers of Mother Goddesses, in early spring, they make pilgrimages to the main shrines of the Mother Goddesses. They will go to temples and government offices to worship Mother Thuong Thien (Mother Lieu Hanh), Mother Thuong Ngan and Mother Thoai. The main places of worship of Mother Lieu are Phu Tay Ho (Hanoi) and Phu Giay (Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province). Mother Thuong Ngan is worshiped mainly at Co Temple, Tan An commune, Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, and Mau Thoai in Tuyen Quang (in addition, there are other places of worship such as Con temple (Nghe An), Dam temple (often Tin). ….
It can be said that Dam Temple is a sacred temple dating from the Tran Dynasty. This is one of the temples with the largest number of Phongs in Vietnam under the Tran, Le, and Nguyen dynasties, ordained 28 times (Tran Dynasty 7 Dao, Le Dynasty 13 Dao, Nguyen Dynasty 8 Dao) – a record of Ordained, it is difficult for any other temple to be like that. This number of ordinations is equal to Phu Tien Huong – The place of worship of Mother Lieu Hanh at Phu Day (Nam Dinh).
Legend associated with Dam
Temple Dam Temple is associated with the legend “Princess Hoang Long was exiled for breaking a jade cup and was acquitted by Lieu Nghi. To repay the favor, she appeared in a dream to help Hung Dao Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan defeat foreign invaders.
When he returned from winning the battle, he presented a petition to the king to report the merits and clearly stated that Ngoc Dung reported the dream. The king sent messengers to Xam Mien to the temple (now known as Dam temple) to pay thanks, and bestowed ordination. Then he ordered the people of Xam Mien to go to the capital to bring the identity back for the villagers to worship.
Subsequent kings have ordained the temple. Later, to commemorate the merits of Hung Dao Vuong, he presented to the king and bestowed an ordination on Dam temple, local people built a temple next to it to worship Hung Dao Vuong. Therefore, in the grounds of Tran temple next to the main temple, there are not only aunt and uncle temples but also Tran Hung Dao temple.
In addition, if we visit Dam temple, you can also learn and discover another temple also worshiping Mother Thoai, which is Xam Thi temple, only about 2km from Dam temple. Xam Thi Temple has the same story about Mau Thoai similar to Dam Temple. These are considered the two main temples of Mau Thoai associated with the legend of Mau Thoai embodying King Tran Nhan Tong fighting the Nguyen invaders.
A spiritual tourist destination in Hanoi
, Dam Temple has ancient architecture, open space, and still retains the old features. In the temple grounds, there is a lake and many ancient trees are planted. The temple is divided into different zones, in addition to the main hall is the Temple of the Third Mother, there is also the Tran Dynasty’s palace worshiping Hung Dao Vuong, Son Trang cave, Lau Co, Lau Cau. The highlight is Lau Co located right on the lake, which is a two-story ancient floor, with a hexagonal roof, Nghinh Gate with 6 superficial and majestic pillars.
The main festival of Dam Temple lasts two days from the 5th to the 7th of the second lunar month, but the actual festival lasts for ten days from the 1st to the 10th of February every year. In addition to the ceremony, the festival part includes water procession, dragon dance, lion dance, drawing words, human flags, quan ho singing, cock fighting.
The temple is located right along the Red River, that’s why today, there are often boat tours through the temples along the Red River such as: Chu Dong Tu (Hung Yen), Dam temple, Dai Lo temple (near Dam temple), Bat Trang pottery village.
Source: Collected internet.