Voi Phuc Temple

This guide to Voi Phục Temple in Hanoi opens with an elephant that knelt before an eleventh-century prince, Linh Lang, son of King Lý Thánh Tông, on the morning he rode off to fight invaders from the Song empire. You'll hear the two accounts of what became of him afterward, why the king built a temple on this mound in response, and how two kneeling stone elephants outside the gate gave the place its name. The guide also traces its place among four temples built to guard the old capital's four directions.