Kiep Bac Temple Festival

The Kiep Bac Temple is located in Hung Dao, Hai Duong. This is where people worship General Tran Quoc Tuan of the Tran Dynasty. He defeated the Nguyen-Mong invaders three times and was then proclaimed a Saint.

The Kiep Bac Temple Festival lasts from the 15^th to the 20^th day of the eighth lunar month. Going on a pilgrimage to Kiep Bac Temple and worshipping Saint Tran has been part of Vietnamese customs for centuries. The main ceremony of the festival is held on the 20^th, but visitors from everywhere arrive at Kiep Bac Temple for days before.

The main ceremony is followed by the great ceremony with strict worshipping procedures. Next comes another procession in which Saint Tran’s ancestral tablet is brought on a golden procession chair to the river bank. The chair procession is placed on a royal barge. The procession, in the form of a boat cruise, lasts for two hours. Then Saint Tran’s ancestral tablet is brought back to the main Temple for the last religious service.

In the past, religious services in Kiep Bac Temple were held in obedience to the divinities. Now, those ceremonies have been adapted to new lifestyles, but they still bear national identity and significance. One of the most interesting games in the festival is a boat race on the Luc Dau River in which hundreds of boats participate, rushing ahead like flying arrows to the drums’ urgent beat.

Visitors who join Kiep Bac Temple Festival seem to live in the same atmosphere as when Tran Quoc Tuan arrayed his troops in the bank. Vietnamese who take part in this festival are very proud of the glorious traditions of their nation.