Ỷ LAN LADY TEMPLE

Take National Highway N°1A, cross Chương Dương Bridge to the Cầu Chui crossroad (Milestone N°5), turn right and take National Highway N°5. At Milestone N°ll, you will enter Trâu Qùy, the chief Town of Gia Lâm District. On the left of this road, there used to be the CỔ Bi Temporary Palace built by Trịnh Giang (1729-1740). After the Palace had fallen into ruins, there were only some stone animal statues left: lying elephants and kneeling buffaloes. That's why this place is called Trâu Qùy (kneeling buffalo).
At Milestone N°15, there is Phú Thụy Railway Station on the right hand side, and on the left is the cluster of the temples dedicated to Lady Y Lan.
Ỷ Lan was the wife of King Lý Thánh Tông (1054-1072) and mother of King Lý Nhân Tông (1072-1128). She was well-known for her humble origin and for her talent of admin¬istering the country.
Lady Y Lan was bom into a family of peasants skillful at raising silkworms and weaving silk Thổ Lỗi, her native place is now covered by Phú Thị, Dương Xá Communes (Gia Lâm District, Hanoi) and Như Quỳnh Commune (Mỹ Văn District, Hưng Yên). In this area (i.e around National Highway N°5), there are up to 20 temples dedicated ÎO her. Now, let us deal with the story of her life. One day, King Lê Thánh Tông visited Thổ Lỗi whose inhabitants rushed to the roadside to welcome the King. One girl did not care for this. Leaning against a magnolia trunk, she seemingly looked at some thing in the distance; her look was some¬what haughty. Her attitude attracted the atten¬tion of the King. He required her to come and asked her some questions which she answered cleverly. He brought her to the Royal Palace and gave her the name of Y Lan (leaning against a magnolia tree). When her son who succeeded to the throne, she was then titled "Queen Mother". In her life, she acted twice as regent showing her great talent as an adminis¬trator. The first time was when King Lý Thánh
Tông led his army to conquer an enemy in the South (1069) and the second time was v/hen King Lý Nhàn Tông was still too young to reign (from 1072 to aroud 1080).

Let us go back to the clusters of monuments dedicated to her cult, by National Highway N°5. The first cluster is the temple and the pagoda in Dương Xá Commune, opposite to the Phú Thụy Railway Station, which still bear the name Lady Tấm "Cinderella". Legend has it that the pagoda was constructed to the order of Y Lan for the cult of the Buddha. After her death (1117), the villagers decided to use the Pagoda as a place dedi¬cated to her cult. Now, there is no trace of the architectural style of the Lý dynasty nor of the 16th century. The present Pagoda has been recently rebuilt. The vestiges of the Lý period in the Pagoda include a stone pedestal with the sculptures of two heads of lions lying firmly ip wait, each with a gem in its mouth, popularly called "Òng Sấm" (Mr. Thunder). Ii used to be a pedestal for a statue of Buddha which is lm high and 1.35 m wide. There is also a section of the stone veranda in front of the door, 1.8 m long and 1.2 m high. The upper part is sculptured with a "sấu" (a small lion-like mythical animal) springing up; the front side is decorated with a dancing phoenix with its wings spread, the right leg bent and the left one resting on a graceful blossoming lotus.
The Temple is adjacent to the Pagoda. In the Temple, there are some precious objects, the most note- worthy is a pair of lions carved out of a big block of stone lm high and 1.36 m wide. The lions are in a lying-in-wait posture and look particularly gentle but also powerful and strong.
Besides, there are two finely-carved statues in the Temple, dedicated to Y Lan's Mother and Y Lan herself.
From the Temple gate, if you take road 179 and go towards the Đuống River, in two kilo¬meters’ distance, you'll arrive at Phú Thị Village, an ancient village where there is Pagoda Đại Dương Sùng Phúc dedicated to the cult of Y Lan. The stele insciption dating back to 1633 reveals that the Pagoda was constructed to the very order of Y Lan in 1115. Although the worshipped person is the same, the festivals held in her honour are organized on different dates: in Dương Xá, on the 20lh, 21st of the 2nd lunar month; in Phú Thị, on the first days of the 3rd lunar month.