Đền Gia Định

Đền Gia Định (Gia Định Temple) is also known as the memorial temple of the Sài Gòn – Chợ Lớn – Gia Định Revolutionary Tradition Area. It is not a temple to a deity. It honours people who served the revolution in that land: leaders of the Party and the State, of the Regional Party Committee (Xứ ủy), of the Central Office for South Vietnam (Trung ương Cục miền Nam), of the zone and city Party committees, and others who gave a great deal to Sài Gòn – Chợ Lớn – Gia Định. The temple lies within the Củ Chi Tunnels Historical Site. Don't mistake it for the Bến Dược Martyrs' Memorial Temple: that is a separate temple, and many delegations offering incense visit the two in turn.

Where the city of three names has returned on the fifth day of Tết for many years running

Are you curious why the city chose this spot for its memorial instead of a square in the centre? In 2015 the chairman of the city People's Committee explained the choice: Nguyễn Văn Linh, Võ Văn Kiệt, Trần Văn Trà, Tô Ký, Mai Chí Thọ and many veteran revolutionaries held their ground and worked here. The Hố Bò base in this area was a solid rear area through two wars of resistance. The temple was placed exactly where those people once stayed.

The temple grounds cover about 4.2 hectares. They hold a garden, a tam quan (a three-entrance ceremonial gate), the main temple with a smaller temple on each side, and a few ancillary buildings. The grounds belong to a larger 13.5-hectare tradition area, which also has a stele house, a ceremonial area, a lotus pond and a stone bridge. The stele carries the title "Sài Gòn - Chợ Lớn - Gia Định, Sacred Land Shaded by Heroes". It was composed by Professor Vũ Khiêu, who holds the state title Hero of Labour. That title is worth reading with your own eyes.

So what does this place mean today? The answer is tied to one day of the year. The fifth day of Tết, the Lunar New Year, is the day of the Sài Gòn – Chợ Lớn – Gia Định revolutionary tradition gathering. For many years running, the city's leaders have come here on that day to offer incense and flowers. It began at Tết 2011, when the area was still being built and delegates planted trees in memory of Uncle Hồ (President Hồ Chí Minh) on the construction site. On the fifth day of Tết in 2016, the ceremony receiving the Special National Site certificate for the Củ Chi Tunnels was also held here. According to a 2022 newspaper article, the temple had become a "red address", a Vietnamese term for a place tied to revolutionary memory. There the Gia Định resistance tradition club of the military, civilian, government and Party bloc held its gatherings. A heritage site doesn't need to be a hundred years old to matter. It only needs people who come back. Would you like to see for yourself the place a city of three names chose to remember the people who held it?

Enough to decide whether to go

What it is

A memorial temple to people who served the revolution in Sài Gòn – Chợ Lớn – Gia Định

Where

Phú Hiệp hamlet (ấp), Củ Chi area, inside the Củ Chi Tunnels complex, about 300 m from the Bến Dược Tunnels ticket counter

Since

The temple has hosted ceremonies since Tết 2011; the whole tradition area was inaugurated on 27 December 2015

Worth seeing

The tam quan gate, the main temple and its two side temples; the stele titled "Sacred Land Shaded by Heroes"

Its day

The fifth day of Tết, when the city has held incense offerings for many years running

Not to be confused with

The Bến Dược Martyrs' Memorial Temple, a different temple in the same complex