Bà Chúa Xứ

Bà Chúa Xứ (Vietnamese: [ɓâː tɕǔə sɨ̌]) or Chúa Xứ Thánh Mẫu (chữ nôm: 主處聖母, Holy Mother of the Realm) is a prosperity goddess of southern Vietnam's Thanism. She is a tutelary of business, health, and a protector of the Vietnamese border. She is considered prestigious and is worshipped in her temple in Vĩnh Tế village at the foot of Sam Mountain, An Giang province. A three-day festival is held in the village at the beginning of the rainy season, beginning on the twenty-third day of the fourth lunar month, in her honour. Bà Chúa Xứ reached her peak of popularity in the 1990s and still entertains pilgrims every year with her responsiveness to loyal followers.

According to French archaeologist Louis Malleret, the statue of the Lady of the Realm worshipped in Vĩnh Tế village is, in fact, an appropriated and feminized statue of Shiva, belong to the pre-Angkorean Funan Kingdom of Cambodia. Stories from her worshippers, emerged after the Vietnamese came to the area, offer a different version in which recount her growing naturally from stone before being discovered by the Vietnamese of Sam Mountain.

Stories state that the Lady of the Realm protected Thoại Ngọc Hầu (1761–1829), a mandarin representing the Vietnamese court during the early days of occupation of the south of Vietnam and was instrumental in creating and defending the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. The legend states that his wife, Chau Thi Te, went to Bà Chúa Xứ’s shrine on Sam Mountain to pray for her husband to defeat the enemy and bring peace to the land. Thoại Ngọc Hầu was able to fend off the Khmer troops, and Chau Thi Te showed her gratitude to the goddess by rebuilding the shrine that held her. When the temple was complete, Chau Thi Te held a festival that lasted three days. Those days became the annual date for the festival for Bà Chúa Xứ.

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Wikipedia