Tran Nam Dinh Temple is a relic site worshiping 14 Tran Dynasty kings, their families and officials who contributed to the country. This place is famous for its ancient architecture, imbued with Vietnamese tradition and the sacred An festival to pray for peace and luck.

Overview about Tran Royal Temple

Tuc mac village belongs to Loc Vuong Commune is located 3km from the centre of nam Dinh. It was the native land of the Tran Emperors and national hero Tran Hung Dao. The remains of the royal residences cover an area of a dozen hectares.

Historical records mention that around the year 1239, the Emperor ordered the construction of a royal palace in his native village. In the year 1262, he went to this palace in Tuc Mac, ordered that a banquet be served to the population and gave Tuc Mac the title “Thien Truong town”. He also ordered the construction of Tran Quang Palace, where former kings who yielded the throne to their offspring spent their last years. Pho Minh pagoda was located  west of the residences. He ordered to build another palace for the current kings to take rest at every time who come to visit.

700 years has past, there was no former royal palace but some vestige still remain.

Discover the ancient architectural beauty of Tran Nam Dinh Temple

The Tran Royal Temple relic site in Nam Dinh includes Thien Truong Temple, Co Trach Temple and Trung Hoa Temple, which are of equal size and design. Through the five-door gate is a rectangular lake. In the middle behind the lake is Thien Truong Temple.

Thien Truong Temple

Thien Truong Temple is located in the center of the Tran Temple tourist area, so it is also called Thuong Temple (Upper Temple). The old foundation of this building is a place of family worship, and also a place for the activities and work of the Tran Dynasty’s retired emperors. Therefore, the architecture of Thien Truong Temple is built very ancient and solemn with brick and ironwood floors, red tiled roofs.

Thien Truong Temple has 9 buildings and 31 compartments. The most important compartments are the front hall, the middle hall, the incense burning room, the left and right rows…

– Front hall: This is the place to worship the assistant mandarins under the Tran Dynasty, including 5 compartments, 13m long with 12 main pillars and 12 military pillars. Inside the front hall are stone pedestals carved with lotus petals, extremely meticulously and delicately.

– The middle hall: is the place to worship 14 Tran Dynasty emperors. However, there are no statues but only tablets.

– The main chamber has 3 compartments: The main chamber worships the four ancestors of the Tran Dynasty.

The incense burning house is where separate altars are placed, where incense is burned for meritorious mandarins, civil and military mandarins who made contributions to the Tran Dynasty.
5.2 Co Trach Temple
Co Trach Temple is located to the east of Thien Truong Temple. Looking from the yard, it is on the right side of Thien Truong Temple. Co Trach Temple was built in 1894. According to the stele “Trưng kien Hưng Đạo thân vương cổ trạch bi ký”, when repairing Thien Truong Temple in the 21st year of Tu Duc’s reign (1868), people dug up a broken stele in the east of Thien Truong Temple with the words Hưng Đạo thân vương cổ trạch (old house of Hưng Đạo thân vương) written on it. Therefore, when this temple was built in 1894 and inaugurated in 1895, it was named Cố Trạch Từ (old house temple). Hạ Temple is the common name.

Co Trach Temple houses the memorial tablets of Trần Hưng Đạo, his family and his generals.

5.3 Trung Hoa Temple
Trung Hoa Temple was built in 2000 on the old foundation of Trung Hoa Palace in the west of the Trần Temple relic site. The central hall and main hall of the temple house 14 bronze statues, symbolizing the 14 emperors of the Trần Dynasty. The incense-burning hall of Trung Hoa Temple houses the throne and memorial tablets of civil and military mandarins.

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Participate in festivals at Tran Temple, Nam Dinh
Every year, Tran Temple, Nam Dinh, holds two major festivals to express gratitude for the great merits and contributions of the Tran Dynasty kings. The Seal Opening Ceremony is held in January and the Tran Temple Festival is held in August.

6.1 Seal Opening Ceremony
The Seal Opening Ceremony is held on two days, the 14th and 15th of the first lunar month every year. On the evening of the 14th, the rituals of carrying the coffin containing the Seal from the inner palace of Co Trach Temple to Thien Truong Temple will take place.

At exactly Ty hour (1am on the 15th), the Seal Opening Ceremony will officially take place. After the Seal is opened, everyone will enter the temple to worship, then ask for a Seal to pray for good luck in the new year, success, happiness and peace.
Tran Temple Festival, Nam Dinh
The Tran Temple Festival is held for 5 days, from the 15th to the 20th of the 8th lunar month. The festival will include rituals such as palanquin procession, water procession, incense offering… The festival will be more exciting with folk cultural activities such as singing, playing cards, martial arts, lion dance, wrestling, walking on the bridge…