Ba Mu Temple Gate
Triple-arched gate to a lost temple, dedicated to a sea goddess and twelve guardian midwives.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Ba Mu Temple Gate in Hoi An traces two very different fears brought to the same three arches: fishermen praying to Thien Hau against drowning at sea, and mothers praying to twelve unseen midwives, the Thap Nhi Ba Mu, for safety in childbirth. It follows the temple complex from its founding in 1626, through its move and rebuilding in 1848 under Emperor Tu Duc, to the centuries of neglect that left only this gate standing. For decades afterward it sat closed behind a tangle of houses, visible but unreachable. Look up at the two dragons chasing a pearl across the roofline, the same guardians sailors once asked to calm the sea.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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