Vietnamese style

Test of time: Tra Co Church was built in 1880. It is a massive structure decorated with beautiful reliefs. It houses an 80-year-old bell.
Tra Co Temple features typical Vietnamese artchitectural style. Although it was built in a border area with China and could easily have included features from the country’s northern neighbor, the style is distinctly Vietnamese, confirming that the Vietnamese people have long respected their national cultural identity.

After nearly 600 years, the temple still sits as the witness to the country’s ups and downs and acts as a vivid story teller who helps generations of Vietnamese learn more about their traditions.

Tra Co Temple is similar in style to many others in the Hong (Red) River Delta. Decorations include various patterns of four supernatural creatures including dragons, unicorns, tortoises and phoenixes, along with God and humans.

The temple inspired Vietnamese composer Nguyen Cuong to write the song Mai Dinh Lang Bien (Temple Roof in Coastal Village) that has left a deep impression in the souls of many Vietnamese people.

Historian Do Van Ninh said that Tra Co Temple proves the territorial expansion process of the Vietnamese and the connection between the border coastal area with other areas of the country.

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Annual festival

People visiting Tra Co during late lunar May and early June can take the opportunity to join in the village’s annual festival. From May 30 to June 6 a variety of activities are held to celebrate the village.

Prior to the festival, on May 25, a festive procession from Tra Co begins a return journey to the original hometown of Do Son to honour the ancestors there. It takes them about three days by boat to make the trip to the hometown but only two days to return. They belive that the festive procession can travel faster thanks to support from the ancestors.

On the night of May 30, the temple is bright with candles, lights and smells of burning incense. Locals come to pray for health, wealth and a properous year.

The following morning, a ceremony to escort the King to sea takes place. Dozens of people donned in traditional attire join the procession, some playing musical instruments and others holding colorful flags or weapons. A crowd of people follow creating an exciting atmosphere.

During the festival, the village also hosts activities such as a cooking competition where people can enjoy local specialities, and dancing competitions.

The ritual has been preserved for hundreds of years, consistently enriching the spiritual life of the coastal village residents.

One tourist from Ha Noi, who enjoyed the festival during a holiday to Tra Co, said that she was very impressed by the way the locals preserved their traditions.

“Their performance at the festival helped me learn more about Vietnamese culture, especially the culture in a coastal areas,” she said.

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