Every year, at the beginning of the New Year, at the special national historical and cultural relic site of Tran Temple - Pho Minh Pagoda (Thap Pagoda), Loc Vuong ward (Nam Dinh city), the local government and Tuc Mac villagers solemnly organize the Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival (from January 11 to 16) with great humanistic significance: praying for "National peace and security, world peace and prosperity", all families enjoy the Tran Temple seal, everyone enters the new year healthy, works hard, studies and works well.
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| Dragon boat procession ritual in the Water procession and Fish worship ceremony. |
Implementing the Investment Project to build the Festival Center Area in the Tran Dynasty Historical - Cultural Relic Site, up to now, the traffic infrastructure, facilities, spiritual cultural works, auxiliary works at the Tran Temple - Thap Pagoda Relic Site have been invested in construction, upgrading, renovation, creating conditions for the relic site to become a unique tourist destination, attracting a large number of local people and visitors from all over the world to attend each festival. The space for organizing festivals at Tran Temple includes: Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony (January) and the traditional Tran Festival in honor of Saint Tran (Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan) in the 8th lunar month, which is increasingly expanded with many rich activities.
The Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival in early Spring is a long-standing custom, expressing the people's gratitude to the Tran Kings through a ritual simulating the royal ritual - bestowing the seal. The opening of the Seal Opening Festival is the Ngoc Lo palanquin procession held on January 11 (carrying the incense of the King - Buddha Emperor Tran Nhan Tong from Thap Pagoda to Thien Truong Temple) with the meaning of welcoming the spirit of the King - Buddha Emperor Tran Nhan Tong to pay respect to the ancestors of the Tran Dynasty and witness the rituals of worshiping the ancestors of the Tran Dynasty at Thien Truong Temple. This ritual represents the harmony between national beliefs and religion (Buddhism) in the spiritual and cultural life of the Vietnamese people. At the Ngoc Lo palanquin procession, a procession of hundreds of people, complete with flags, scepters, and musical instruments, departs from Thien Truong Temple to Thap Pagoda. The dragon dance team leads the palanquin procession, performing to the bustling, exciting sound of festival drums on a Spring day. Standing out in the procession was the elaborately carved Ngoc Lo palanquin, carried by strong young men. When the palanquin procession returned to Thien Truong Temple, the incense bowl worshiping King Tran Nhan Tong was taken out of the palanquin to pay respect to the Tran Kings, with the meaning of paying respect to ancestors and showing gratitude to their merits.
The Water procession and Fish worship ceremonies held on January 12 are important ceremonies with humanistic and historical significance; reenacting traditional rituals performed long ago associated with the origin of the river and fishing profession of the Tran Dynasty, to show gratitude for the merits of the Tran Dynasty, to honor the rice civilization and the residents of the fishing village; to pray for a new year of favorable weather, lush vegetation, and bountiful crops. The Water procession and Fish worship ceremony includes: a lion and dragon dance team; gongs, drums, and an octagonal musical group; a Water procession palanquin, a Fish procession palanquin; a fishing team with traditional fishing tools such as: nets, traps, and traps; a Saint palanquin, a male mandarin worshiping team, a female mandarin worshiping team, etc. The ceremony group performs the water procession ritual taken from the Dragon well in the east of Co Trach Temple. After that, the group organizes the catching of two types of fish, "triều đẩu" (snakehead fish) and "long ngư" (carp), transfers them to the Dragon palanquin, and carries them to Thien Truong Temple. At the end of the ceremony, the elders performed the Water Offering and Fish Sacrifices rituals. The Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony took place on the night of the 14th (Ty hour) to the early morning of the 15th of January with the procession of the seal from Co Trach Temple to Thien Truong Temple and solemnly held the Seal Opening Ceremony - an ancient custom at the Tran Dynasty's Tien Mieu (former Thien Truong Palace).
This custom not only carries traditional cultural and spiritual values but also has profound historical educational significance, demonstrating the nation's morality of "When drinking water, remember its source". The Opening Seal Ceremony is performed at the Trung Thien altar with 14 elders of the Tran family in Tuc Mac village, Loc Vuong ward and representatives of a number of departments, branches and organizations witnessing the opening seal ceremony (14 yellow paper seals). These seals are then offered to communal houses and pagodas in Loc Vuong ward. After completing the opening seal ceremony, the festival organizing committee opens the temple for people and tourists to come and celebrate the New Year. Early in the morning of January 15, they start distributing seals to people.
According to historical and cultural researchers, the Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony has a great humanistic meaning of praying for “National peace and security, world peace and prosperity”. The Tran Dynasty Seal is engraved with the four words “Tich phuc vo cuong” which means to bless descendants, teach descendants, hundreds of families to preserve moral qualities, accumulate good fortune, the more blessings, the more sustainable the benefits.
Coming to the Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival in early Spring, people not only satisfy their wishes for luck and blessings, immerse themselves in unique cultural and folk belief activities, but also admire the landscape of the historical and cultural relics of the Tran Temple - Pho Minh Pagoda Tower. From typical works of the architectural art style of the Tran Dynasty to historical documents, images, and artifacts preserved over many centuries. The Tran Temple - Pho Minh Pagoda was built in the central area of the Thien Truong Palace of the Tran Dynasty. The relic is located in Tuc Mac village, the ancient Thien Truong Palace - the second largest center of power after Thang Long capital, an important base in the resistance war against the Yuan - Mongol invasion of Dai Viet (13th - 14th centuries). Currently, the Tran Temple relic complex consists of 3 temples: Thien Truong Temple - the place to worship 14 Tran Dynasty Emperors and the Tran family's ancestors in Tuc Mac village; Co Trach Temple is the place to worship Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan and his family and generals; Trung Hoa Temple is a place to worship the statues of 14 Tran Kings. The entire relic site is located on a high, open area of nearly 8 hectares, isolated from the residential area. The land here has the shape of a dragon lying down. According to ancient feng shui theory, this is a beautiful land, a prosperous position. All 3 temples have quite similar architectural styles and are located in a closed area, sharing an entrance gate, above the gate is a large Chinese character "Tran Mieu", so Tran Temple is the common name for all 3 relics.
In order for the Tran Temple Spring At Ty 2025 Seal Opening Festival to truly become an attractive spiritual and cultural tourist destination, the festival organizing committee has restored and fully organized the traditional palanquin procession and sacrificial rituals combined with many exciting cultural, artistic, and sports activities, and unique folk games. According to the plan, on January 11 (February 8), the Ngoc Lo palanquin procession will be held; on January 12 (February 9), the Water Procession and Fish Sacrifice Ceremony will be held. On January 14 (February 11), the Nam Dinh City People's Committee will preside over incense offering activities at Thien Truong Temple. During the Seal Opening Ceremony (night of January 14), the festival organizing committee will close Thien Truong Temple to perform solemn traditional rituals. From 22:15 to 22:40, the incense offering ceremony will be performed; from 22:40 to 23:10, the Seal palanquin procession ceremony will be held. On January 15 (February 12), from 2:00 a.m., the Seal Repatriation Ceremony will be held; from 5:00 a.m., the Seals will be distributed to the people and tourists at 3 locations: Giai Vu House, Exhibition House, and Trung Hoa Temple. On January 16 (February 13), the rituals of the Shangyuan Festival will be performed, the ancestors of the Tran Dynasty will be worshiped, and the congratulatory documents will be presented to the palace. During the festival days, at locations within the Tran Temple Relic Site and Dong A Square, many cultural and artistic activities, folk games, displays and exhibitions will be held such as: lion - unicorn - dragon dance, human chess competition, cockfighting, display of ornamental creatures, OCOP Nam Dinh products, photo exhibition "Thanh Nam - historical milestones", display of beautiful photos of Nam Dinh tourism... Nam Dinh City People's Committee and the Organizing Committee of the Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival have established sub-committees and assigned specific tasks to ensure security and order, traffic safety, environmental sanitation, fire prevention and fighting... before, during and after the festival; in which, focusing on ensuring security and safety during the Seal Opening Ceremony (night of January 14) and the time of distributing the seal to visitors.
With historical, cultural, religious values, festivals associated with the Tran Temple relic site (including: Tran Temple Seal Opening Festival and Traditional Tran Festival) have been included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The special national historical and cultural relic site of Tran Temple - Thap Pagoda and Tran Temple Seal Opening Ceremony in early Spring have become a spiritual and cultural tourist destination, a place to gather and spread humanistic values, bearing historical significance in the struggle to defend the country, expressing the people's deep gratitude to the kings and generals of the Tran Dynasty who contributed to the people and the country, arousing pride in the Dong A spirit of the Dai Viet army and people.
Article and photos: Khanh Dung
Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202502/le-hoi-khai-an-den-tran-net-dep-van-hoa-tin-nguong-dau-xuan-35b611f/
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