Đình – Chùa – Bia Bà La Khê Heritage Complex

The La Khê Đình – Pagoda – Bà Stele Heritage Complex is a cultural site in La Khê village, La Khê Ward, Hà Đông District, Hanoi City. This complex includes La Khê Communal House (đình), Diên Khánh Pagoda, and Võ Quận Linh Từ (the Ancestral Hall of General Trần Chân) at Ngòi Pagoda.

La Khê Communal House, also known as Bà Stele Communal House (Đình Bia Bà), is believed to have been built in the early 17th century and underwent major renovations in the 18th century. According to legend, the communal house venerates two tutelary deities: Hắc Diện Đại Vương and Thiên Tiên Bảo Hoa Princess (collectively known as the two great lords), who are said to have helped the people eliminate evil, provided water for farming and livestock, and contributed to the prosperity of the region.

The communal house grounds cover an area of 8,000m². The building faces south, is surrounded by enclosing walls, and has a large well in front of the entrance. In 1997, the main ceremonial hall (đại bái) was restored, and in 2002, the central and rear sanctuaries were repaired.

Within the Bà Stele Communal House heritage area are the Bà Stele and the Thánh Sư Stele, and the communal house still preserves 28 imperial edicts from various Vietnamese monarchic dynasties.

The Bà Stele venerates Lady Trần Thị Hiền – a royal consort during the reign of King Mạc Thái Tông (Mạc Đăng Doanh). She was born in 1511 and died on 16 November 1538 (the year Mậu Tuất). She was a virtuous woman who contributed to the Mạc dynasty and the local people. The communal house contains an inscription of the funeral oration by King Mạc Thái Tông from 1539.

The Thánh Sư Stele venerates ten Chinese individuals from the Ming dynasty who came to teach the people the craft of silk weaving, namely: Lý Công, Trang Công, Trần Công, etc. During the Nguyễn dynasty, they were posthumously honoured as Dực Bảo Tôn Thần. The Bà Stele and Thánh Sư Stele are two valuable historical and cultural relics.

Bà Stele Communal House – La Khê (Hà Đông District) was classified as an architectural and artistic heritage site by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in 1998.

Next to the communal house is Diên Khánh Pagoda, also known as Diên Khánh tự, which was built during the Lý dynasty. The pagoda still preserves many rare relics, such as a collection of steles from the Lê dynasty and a bronze bell cast during the second year of the Cảnh Thịnh era.

The Bà Stele is a stone stele recording the life of the second royal consort of the Mạc Thái Tông court, whose real name was Trần Thị Hiền, also known as the Royal Consort – wife of King Mạc Đăng Doanh, recorded in mactrieu.vn as the Crown Princess (a posthumous title). She was born in 1511 and died in 1538. She belonged to a prestigious family with generations of officials in the court, being the daughter of Đô lực sĩ Thiết Sơn bá Trần Chân of the early Lê dynasty (currently worshipped at the rear left of Ngòi Pagoda – Hà Đông). She was not only beautiful and intelligent but also gentle, virtuous, and often helped the poor, guided people in making a living, and developed the weaving trade. When she fell ill, she returned to her old hometown in La Ninh village, Từ Liêm district, and upon her death, was buried in the Đa Bang field in the village, where she was venerated by the villagers as Đức Thánh Bà (the Holy Lady).

The stele recording her life was erected in Đa Bang field (also known as the Queen's field) for three centuries. The La Khê Bà Stele did not subside naturally but was destroyed to combat superstition, using explosives. Only the stone turtle base from the Mạc era remains. The head of the Trần family – Mr. Trần Văn Hòa – took it home for safekeeping for a long time but was unable to restore or reconstruct the heritage site due to lack of land and finances. In 1982, it was handed over to the Hà Đông City Party Committee to establish a Heritage Committee (the handover record is posted on the Bia ba La Khe Facebook page), located in the communal house yard of La Khê village. The Trần family still preserves a relic from the Mạc dynasty era of the father of the Crown Princess of the Mạc dynasty, Đô lực sĩ Thiết Sơn bá Trần Chân, which fortunately was not destroyed and is located to the left from the entrance at Ngòi Pagoda, Hà Đông (Phúc Khê Dharma Assembly). Son-in-law Mạc Đăng Doanh had a pagoda built next to his father-in-law's shrine to chant sutras for the souls of great officials who sacrificed for the country to be liberated! The site still preserves a pair of couplets mourning his father-in-law, placed along the shrine by King Mạc Đăng Doanh.

It is likely that only the Trần family of La Khê in Vietnam is honoured by the village with memorial rites for both father and daughter. She is also the only empress whom the king sent back to her paternal family for memorial rites to ensure she would not be forgotten, and King Mạc Đăng Doanh granted the village 300 mẫu (approx. 108 hectares) of land to harvest and use for offerings to Thiết Sơn bá Trần Chân and Crown Princess Trần Thị Hiền.

Every year, at 9 a.m. on the 4th day of the Lunar New Year, all descendants of the Trần family gather at Võ Quận Linh Từ (Ancestral Hall of General Trần Chân) at Ngòi Pagoda to offer incense to their ancestor, and then proceed to offer incense to Crown Princess Trần Thị Hiền. On the 30th day of the lunar year at 14:00, descendants gather at Võ Quận Linh Từ (Ancestral Hall of General Trần Chân) at Ngòi Pagoda to hold a thanksgiving ceremony.

This place is considered sacred and is a site of cultural and spiritual tourism, attracting many pilgrims daily, especially during New Year's Eve, Tết (Lunar New Year), and the La Khê Village Festival, held from the 14th to the 16th day of the first lunar month.

However, there have also been negative phenomena, such as the hiring of people to pray on behalf of others and the disorderly placement of incense sticks for blessings.

On 20 April 2014, an additional stele was created and inaugurated: "Stele marking the site of the first trial of the People's Court in Northern Vietnam".

In 2014, the management board of the La Khê Đình, Pagoda, and Bà Stele heritage complex installed an electronic LED board over 10m² in size to honour the contributions of donors, replacing the traditional engraved stone stele. This act violated the Law on Cultural Heritage, and the relevant authorities in Hanoi (including the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the People's Committee of Hà Đông District) ordered its removal.