The meaningful verseshighly praised the architecture of Do Temple, which is in honor of theeight Kings of Ly Dynasty (1009–1225) in Vietnamese history.

Accordingto Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu, a famous book about Vietnamese historywritten by many generations of Vietnamese historians in the feudaltime, Do Temple was built in 1019 by the first king of the Ly Dynasty,Ly Cong Uan or Ly Thai To and was enlarged by his son Ly Thai Tong in1030. The temple was used by Ly Thai To to meet the people to ask abouttheir opinions on plans to safeguard the country.

TheTemple was built on an elevated area of land of 31,250 square meters.It is surrounded by high walls and more than 20 architectural works andis divided to two parts: inner city and outer city.

Accessto the inner city is through the Ngu Long (five dragons) gate, which isskillfully carved, and then to Tien Te House, the shrine to worship thefirst king.

Hangingon the left side of the shrine is the royal proclamation of the movingof the capital city from Hoa Lu to Thang Long (Hanoi) of King Ly CongUan. The proclamation has 214 words corresponding to 214 years of ruleby the eight Ly kings. The 180 square-meter Co Phap Dien shrine is thesite of many relics including ancestral altars, the thrones and thestatues of the eight kings and a shrine to worship the kings’ wives,among others.

Inthe outer city is a half–moon shaped lake with a floating pavilion andVan chi and Vo chi houses. The lake and the floating pavilion, on anarea of 9,500 square meters, served as a place for the mandarins towatch water puppetry. An image of this architectural construction wasprinted on the banknotes of the Bank of Indochina. Van chi and Vo chihouses are places to worship the civil mandarins (van chi) and militarymandarins (vo chi) who are greatly respected by the country.

Infront of the Temple lies a semi-circular lake, with clear and fullwater all the year round. The lake is connected with two ponds at bothends of the village, with the Tieu Tuong River in front of the village.In the center of the lake stands a square house reserved for waterpuppetry performances with two beautiful tiered roofs. To the south ofthe lake,

Dragon dance performance in front of Do Temple

TheTemple's gate includes five doors made of hard wooden plates assembledtogether and carved on top images of dragons waiting upon the moon.When the door opens, its two leaves are wide apart, and the two dragonson top of the doors seem to be soaring. On day, the dragons' eyes whencatching the light shine like gemstones. Along the three-stepstaircase, are carved two stone dragons with clouds around, on a greenstone floor, symbolizing the Thang Long (Soaring Dragon) Capital.

Atraditional Do Temple Festival annually celebrated by the locals on the15th, 16th and 17th day of the third lunar month to commemorate thecoronation of Ly Cong Uan attracts thousands of pilgrims, who expressedthe spirit of the Vietnamese, i.e. "when drinking the water, think ofits source"...