Vietnam’s nearly 400-year-old fishing village worships 2 giant whale skeletons

Canh Duong Fishing Village, located in Hoa Trach Commune, is known as one of the eight ancient villages renowned for their long history in the former Quang Binh Province, which was merged with Quang Tri Province to form the new Quang Tri Province in July last year.

Historical records show that the village was founded in 1634, making it nearly four centuries old.

After hundreds of years of making a living from the sea, residents have come to see whale worship as an integral part of the village’s cultural and spiritual life.

Villagers worship two whale skeletons known as ‘Duc Ong’ (the Revered Lord) and ‘Duc Ba’ (the Revered Lady) at Ngu Linh Temple.

According to local villagers, ‘the Revered Lady’ washed ashore in the area in 1809, while ‘the Revered Lord’ came ashore in 1907.

The two enormous skeletons are displayed on wooden platforms inside the temple, with an altar standing between them.

Villagers carefully preserve numerous vertebrae, fan-shaped fin bones and skull bones.

Particularly striking are four curved ribs, each rising more than four meters against the walls.

Their immense size has led locals to compare them to giant elephant tusks.

Dao Van Hai, 69, who is responsible for looking after the temple, said that many parts of the two skeletons were lost or damaged during two wars.

In 2004, Ngu Linh Temple was built to provide a dedicated place to worship and preserve the two remaining skeletons.

Researchers previously collected samples and determined that the ‘the Revered Lord’ skeleton was some 28.8 meters long, while ‘the Revered Lady’ measured around 28.5 meters.

When alive, the two whales may have weighed hundreds of metric tons.

Not far from Ngu Linh Temple lies a cemetery reserved exclusively for whales that washed ashore along the Canh Duong coast.

Dozens of graves have been built much like human graves, each with an incense bowl placed in front of its headstone.

The headstones are inscribed with the whale’s name as well as the date when it was discovered.

Particularly intriguing is the fact that each whale grave has its own distinctive name, including Nam Duong Duke, Young Husband and Princess.

“After the whales are buried, about six or seven years later, the villagers erect stone headstones and give each grave a name,” said Nguyen Mai, a resident of Canh Duong Bac.