Cultural and artistic values ​​at Tranh Temple

Associated with the tradition of fighting to build and defend the country

Every year, Tranh Temple has two festivals: the spring festival and the autumn incense offering ceremony. The spring festival is held on a large scale, attracting a large number of people and tourists from within and outside the province to visit and worship. The festival is also an opportunity for people and tourists to express their wishes for their families and homeland to be well-off, have good crops, and eliminate diseases. Coming to the spring festival, visitors can also immerse themselves in many unique rituals such as: the ceremony of asking to open the temple, the ceremony of bathing the statue, the offering ceremony, the procession; folk games such as chess, sea chess, playing clay cannons, tug of war, pot smashing, walking on the bridge, blindfolded duck catching...

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Tranh Temple Festival has existed since ancient times, integrating and overlapping many cultural layers. The festival shows us a lot of information about the history of the land and its people; the history of fighting against natural disasters, foreign invaders, and the customs and beliefs of the people.

With the tradition of wet rice agriculture, harsh natural conditions have affected the daily life and production of the people. Travel and trade activities in the past were mainly by water, often encountering difficulties. The desire for favorable weather, good crops, and lucky travel has led people to believe in a supernatural force that can protect their lives. That belief has become a cultural feature, a belief in worshiping the water god of Tranh River, closely associated with the development history of the land and people here.

In the 10th century, Le Hoan defeated the Song army. When his warships crossed the Tranh River, he ordered his soldiers to stop, set up an altar to worship and encourage the morale of the army. The war was a resounding victory. To remember his merits, every year on the 10th day of the 2nd lunar month, King Le Hoan held a thanksgiving ceremony and since then, the local people have chosen the 10th day of the 2nd lunar month every year to hold a festival.

According to folk legend, during the Tran Dynasty, at the confluence of the Tranh River and the Luoc River, people built a temple to worship the water god who ruled this section of the river, the great mandarin Tuan Tranh. This was a form of folk belief of people working on the river, then spread to traders, hoping that everything would go smoothly and their business would be lucky.

During the pre-uprising period, Tranh Temple was also the secret place of activities of comrade Le Thanh Nghi, member of the Northern Regional Party Committee, to organize and build the Party cell of Ninh Giang Water Plant, set up a bookcase to propagate the Party's policies and guidelines, and establish an association to propagate the national language. At Tranh Temple, rallies were held to celebrate the success of the August Revolution...

Preserving the intangible cultural heritage of humanity

Tranh Temple Festival has become a unique cultural activity, deeply rooted in the subconscious of local people, becoming a place to gather, preserve and transmit traditional cultural values. Through many generations, the basic features of the festival are still maintained. Today, Tranh Temple Festival still retains the inherent scientific values ​​of a traditional festival. Those values ​​help scientists to learn and research authentically about knowledge, life, customs and practices to supplement the treasure of Vietnamese cultural heritage.

In particular, the festival also includes the performance of the Saints and the singing of the literature. These two activities have become unique cultural features of the festival. In particular, the performance of the singing of the Chau Van is one of the intangible cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Currently, Dong Tam commune has established the Hat Van Club and practiced the Vietnamese belief in worshipping the Mother Goddess of the Three Realms, performing in many places. During the festival days, there are also the activities of the Hau Dong, demonstrating the spiritual cultural values ​​of the relic site, the community's belief and respect for the deity being worshiped.

Maintaining the organization of singing and practicing the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms of the Vietnamese people at the Tranh Temple Festival aims to continue to identify the value, research, inventory, and document the intangible cultural heritage of the practice of the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms of the Vietnamese people. The good customs, rituals, and traditional festivals associated with the heritage here will promote propaganda and education activities to raise awareness of the whole society, especially the young generation, about protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage. At the same time, creating conditions for practicing, creating, and teaching the heritage of practicing the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms of the Vietnamese people in the community...

In 2009, Tranh Temple was ranked as a national architectural and artistic relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Along with the unique cultural and artistic values ​​that are still preserved and being promoted, this will be an important and necessary basis for Tranh Temple to become a special national relic in the future.