Phuong Sai temple is located at number 83, Phuong Sai Street in the Phuong Son district of Nha Trang City, in the Khanh Hoa Province. The name Phuong Sai originates from the Phuong Mountain and Sai or Cui River. At the beginning of the 19th century, in 1808, this area was called Phường Củi village in the Binh Hoa province and in 1832, Binh Hòa was renamed as Khanh Hoa under the reign of King Minh Menh. Later, the name Phuong Cui was also changed to Phuong Sai village. In 1924, Phuong Sai and 4 other ancient villages were gathered as Nha Trang town by the Governor General of Indochina. In 1976, Nha Trang was divided into Phuong Son and Phuong Sai districts by the Phuong Sai boundary Road.
The construction date of the Phuong Sai temple is unclear. According to the elders, the original temple was built with a thatched roof, round wooden columns and faced the northeast. It faced the Sai River with the Trai Thuy Mountain at the rear, which followed the ancient Feng Shui. In the latter half of the 19th century, the economic conditions of the village were quite stable. However, the education of the children in the village was not adequate, so the elders decided to change the direction of the temple from the northeast to the southwest. In 1955, they shifted the temple back to the original direction of Northeast. Now, the temple is situated in an area of 2,248.5m2. The relics have the following buildings: the gates, the fence walls, the martyr’s stele memorial, the great temple, the temple of Thien Y A Na, the temple of the elders, the Warehouse and the Kitchen.
The roof is covered with the Yin and Yang tiles and many statues of dragons and phoenixes, which create the ancient appearance of the temple. The temple is also decorated with many figures and images of the 4 sacred animals and plants, bats and lively pictures, which attracted the people. There are altars, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, drums, gongs and parasols inside the temple, which create the majestic and ancient appearance of the temple in the urban space. Phuong Sai temple is the place to worship the gods, the elders and the heroic martyrs. Among them, the elder is Mai Thien Tai, who has contributed a lot to build the village. In addition, the relics have the temples to worship Thien Y A Na Dien Ngoc Phi, the mother goddesses, Prince and Princess.
At present, Phuong Sai temple still retains 12 ordinances from the reign of King Tu Duc to King Khai Dinh. The wooden frame of the temple is still well preserved with its lively, expressive and artistic decorative patterns. In addition, the relics have valuable cultural and historical objects, such as the 3 horizontal lacquered boards dating back to the Nguyen dynasty:At present, Phuong Sai temple still retains 12 ordinances from the reign of King Tu Duc to King Khai Dinh. The wooden frame of the temple is still well preserved with its lively, expressive and artistic decorative patterns. In addition, the relics have valuable cultural and historical objects, such as the 3 horizontal lacquered boards dating back to the Nguyen dynasty:
The Phuong Sai temple horizontal lacquered board dates back to 1866 in the 19th year of Tu Duc; The Thien Y temple horizontal lacquered board date back to 1891 in the 3rd year of Thanh Thai, and The Khanh Ninh horizontal lacquered board dates to 1894 in the 6th year of Thanh Thái.
Every year, Phuong Sai temple has two important rituals in the spring and autumn. The Spring Festival is also known as the ceremony of prosperity and peace, which is organized on the 22nd and 23rd of the lunar March. The Autumn Festival is also called the sacrifice for gods, which takes place from the 1st to the 10th of the lunar September. In the festival, they bring the ordinances from the An Lạc temple in number 19, Phan Dinh Giot Street, Phuong Sai district to the Phương Sài temple and return it to An Lac temple at the end of the ceremony. Phuong Sai temple was classified as a historical and cultural vestige of the province on the 22nd of August, 2007.