The northern province of Nam Dinh on September 24 held a ceremony to offer incense to Tran Hung Dao, a national hero, on his 713th death anniversary at the Thien Truong temple.

This was part of the annual traditional Tran Hung Dao festival, which took place from September 14-24 this year (the 10th to 20th day of the eighth lunar month). This is also one of four main activities of the province to mark the 2013 Red River Delta National Tourism Year.

Visitors to the festival had a chance to enjoy dragon and lion dance, traditional martial arts and water puppetry performances, and participate in chess, wrestling and cock-fighting competitions.

Intangible cultural heritage performances also drew much attention from visitors.

Vice Permanent Chairwomen of Nam Dinh city People’s Committee Cao Thi Tinh said that to make the festival successful, the organising board asked local authorities and units to implement all necessary measures to ensure security, traffic safety and environmental sanitation.

Under the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), Tran Quoc Tuan, also known as Tran Hung Dao, (1228-1300) was a military Grand Commander who commanded the Dai Viet armies to repel the three major Mongol invasions in the 13th century.-VNA