Tran Thuong Temple’s food-distributing festival took place in the northern province of Ha Nam on February 18 or the 14th day of the first lunar month. 

Tran Thuong temple is dedicated to Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300), the supreme commander of Vietnam in the Tran Dynasty, who repelled three major Mongolian invasions in the 13th century. It is located in Nhan Dao commune of Ly Nhan district, which was chosen by Tran Hung Dao as a food storage area to supply his army during the fight against the invaders.

In honour of the past event, a food-distributing festival is held annually at Tran Thuong Temple on the 14th day of the first lunar month.    

This year, the festival was attended by Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, leaders from ministries, agencies and Ha Nam province, as well as a huge crowd of visitors across the country. 

A huge crowd of visitors attend the festival.

About 180,000 food parcels that contained corn, soybeans and rice – staples produced by Ly Nhan residents – were handed out to participants.

The same day, a seal opening ceremony began at the Tran Kings temple relic site in neighbouring Nam Dinh province to pray for a new year of happiness and a bumper harvest. Thousands of people flocked to the event.

The ceremony re-enacted a custom dating back to the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), when mandarins took out their seals after the lunar New Year holiday (Tet) to resume administrative activities, including conferring titles. 

As a tradition, this year’s event opened with a procession to take the seal from Co Trach temple to Thien Truong temple, where 14 kings of the Tran Dynasty are worshipped.

Following a short speech by Chairman of the Nam Dinh People’s Committee Hoang Nguyen Du praising the Tran Dynasty, the seal opening ceremony was held in line with the traditional rites. 

The site was closed to visitors during the ceremony which took place from 22:45. The distribution of stamps to residents and visitors started from 5am on February 19 or the 15th day of the first lunar month.  

It has become a tradition for Vietnamese to join the ceremony to get a stamp in hope for good luck and happiness.-VNA