[In Pictures] Thousands of tourists flock to the seal opening ceremony at Nam Dinh’s Tran Temple

The Tran Temple seal opening ceremony, the main ritual of the Tran Temple Festival, took place on the night of February 23 (the 14th day of the first lunar month) in Nam Dinh City’s Loc Vuong Ward, northern Nam Dinh Province.

At 10:50 pm, the seal procession entered the yard of Thien Truong Shrine.

The ceremony opened with a seal procession ritual from Co Trach Shrine (a temple that worships the Great King Tran Quoc Tuan) to Thien Truong Shrine (which worships the 14 kings of the Tran dynasty). The seal opening rituals then took place in a solemn atmosphere, in line with the traditional rites.

After the seal procession ritual between the Co Trach and Thien Truong shrines, the seal is protected by a mobile police force.

An overview of the front of Thien Truong Shrine before the seal opening.

The seal opening ceremony originated during the Tran Dynasty and is held annually to commemorate General Tran Hung Dao and the soldiers who contributed to the fight against invading Yuan-Mongol armies during the 13th century.

An incense offering ceremony before the opening of the seal.

An overview of the seal palanquin.

Outside Tran Temple, the number of people and tourists from across the country coming to Tran Temple is increasing day by day. As the visitors were not allowed inside the temple, many people stood outside to wait.

The first tourists entered Tran Temple after the opening ceremony.

The yard in front of Thien Truong Shrine quickly filled with people.

Two female tourists take a photo of this year's opening ceremony at Tran Temple.

A foreign tourist couple happily followed the flow of people into the temple.

Tourists and people express their sincerity to Saint Tran, praying for a lucky year. Nguyen Van Dinh, from Thanh Hoa, said that despite the heavy rain, he would stay in the temple yard until the seal distribution time to receive for the lucky seal at the beginning of the year.

At exactly 5 am on February 24, the 15th day of the first lunar month, thousands of tourists flocked to the seal distribution points to receive the first lucky seals of the year.

Even though it was raining heavily, the number of tourists waiting to receive the seal was still very large. Many of these people even waited there overnight.

According to a representative of the Organising Committee, this year’s seal distribution ceremony will take place throughout the first lunar month and may extend into the second lunar month. More than 300,000 seal copies have been prepared to serve the needs of people and tourists from all over.

The Tran Temple seal is checked again before distributing it to visitors.

To ensure security, the printing will be carried out by representatives of the local Elderly Association and Veterans' Association.

The Tran temple seal distributed at the beginning of the year.

The joy of a tourist after being distributed for lucky seals at the beginning of the year at Tran Temple in the early morning of February 24.

Offerings from visitors inside the temples.

According to legend, the Tran Temple seal will bring luck, happiness, and peace to visitors.