Thang Tam Communal House Relic Site

A fishing-village communal house in the heart of Vung Tau, honouring the Guardian Spirit and home to one of the Southeast's largest Nghinh Ong festivals

In the heart of the seaside city of Vung Tau, Thang Tam Communal House is one of the region's oldest and most historically significant places of worship. It honours the village Guardian Spirit (Thanh Hoang) along with the earlier and later forebears who pioneered the land, and it is also where fishermen pray for favourable weather and holds full of fish and shrimp on every voyage. In 1991, it was recognised as a National Historical and Cultural Relic. Thang Tam is closely tied to the Nghinh Ong festival, the whale-worship tradition honouring Nam Hai Dai tuong quan (General of the Southern Sea) in the fishing villages' festivals for a good catch. The Southeast coastline is only about 100 km long, yet it has as many as 15 whale temples (lang Ca Ong), the highest density in the country; the largest Nghinh Ong festivals take place in Can Gio, Phuoc Tinh and Thang Tam. The relic complex comprises three structures: the communal house founded in 1820, Lang Ong Nam Hai (whale temple) in 1824, and Mieu Ba Ngu Hanh (Five Elements Goddess Shrine) in 1832. The Thang Tam Nghinh Ong festival takes place from the 16th to the 18th day of the 8th lunar month and was recognised as National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2023. The communal house also holds the Ky Yen festival in the 2nd lunar month and the Mieu Ba festival in the 10th lunar month.

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.