Worshiping hero is a part of Vietnamese culture. Crossing the country, countless of temples have been building to honor Vietnamese heros. And Trần Hưng Đạo temple in Ho Chi Minh city is one of them.

About the temple

Trần Hưng Đạo was a Vietnamese royal prince, statesman and military commander of Đại Việt military forces during the Trần Dynasty (1225 to 1400). He’s well-know for successfully defeated two out of three times of Kublai Khan’s Mongol aggressors in the 13th century. After passed away, he was worshipped widely, mainly as a peace protector. And Trần Hưng Đạo temple is one of the biggest temple, in Southern Vietnam, devoted to him. Trần Hưng Đạo temple was first erected in 1932 on the ground of Vạn An pagoda. In 1957, it was entirely rebuilt followed a design of architect Nguyễn Mạnh Bảo.

Architecture of Trần Hưng Đạo temple

The temple has three large gates. The main gate only opens on 15th, 30th on lunar calender, major festivals of the year and Agust 20th (his memorial day). Two side gates open regularly to welcome visitors to visit daily. On the roof of the main gate is the image of “two dragons flanking a moon”. Other corners adorned with dragon and phoenix figures. There is also a pair of white marble unicorn statues set up infront of the gate.

In the campus of about 2,000m2, the temple yard occupies most of the area, shading tall trees. The temple courtyard is paved with brown glazed tiles. Right at the beginning of the courtyard, is a statue of Trần Hưng Đạo cast in cement, painted in black and gold, which looks majestic and harmonious with the temple area.

The temple was built follow communal house style in Vietnam and divided into 2 halls. In the front hall, there are many lacquered boards, horizontal and vertical…describe the major events of the history during the Trần dynasty such as: Diên Hồng Conference, Hóa River Oath, Bạch Đằng Battle 1288.

In the middle, there is an altar to the talented generals of the Tran dynasty such as: Trần Quang Khải, Trần Khánh Dư, Phạm Ngũ Lão, Dã Tượng, Yết Kiêu.

The back hall is also beautifully decorated and dignified. There is a bronze statue of Trần Hưng Đạo here. The statue is 1.7 m high, cast in the posture of a person sitting on a dragon throne, holding a book, and a silver sword on one side.

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