Turn down the Phú Viên slope from the northern foot of Chương Dương Bridge into the historic riverside land of Ái Mộ and Bồ Đề, and you will come upon an old four-pillar gateway tucked beneath a centuries-old banyan tree, facing directly toward the silt-laden expanse of the Red River. In former times, right in front of the temple lay a great rapid (ghềnh) where the rushing current of the Nhị Hà struck the northern bank and formed swirling eddies day and night, boats passing this gateway to the capital Thăng Long always paused their oars to pray for safe passage. From that perilous river rapid, the people of Thăng Long and Kinh Bắc named the riverside shrine Ghềnh Temple (Đền Ghềnh).
Step past the spirit screen sculpted with a water-coiling dragon into the halls of Thiên Quang Linh Từ (天光靈祠), and visitors encounter a multi-layered sacred space rare in Hanoi. Here the worship of the Mother Goddess of Water (Thánh Mẫu Thoải Phủ) and the Three and Four Palaces pantheon converges with the regional veneration of Imperial Consort and Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan in ancient Gia Lâm, as well as the moving story of the villagers of Ái Mộ who for nearly two centuries quietly sheltered the spirit tablets and statues of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân and her two young children behind the veil of Mẫu Thoải and the Three Princesses to protect them from the persecution of the former royal court.
ITwo converging layers of belief: Mẫu Thoải, Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan and Empress Lê Ngọc Hân
Ghềnh Temple belongs to the tradition of Vietnamese Mother Goddess Worship of the Three and Four Palaces (Đạo Mẫu) combined with the veneration of illustrious women in national history. The most distinctive feature of the pantheon at Ghềnh Temple is the coexistence and fusion of two historical layers of belief spanning from the Lý and Trần dynasties to the Restored Lê, Tây Sơn and Nguyễn eras: the first layer is the worship of the Third Mother Goddess of Water (Thánh Mẫu Thoải Phủ), Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan and the Three Royal Princesses who govern the waters of the Nhị Hà River, the second layer is the tragic historical account of the veiled worship of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân (1770 - 1799) under the titles of the Fairy Princess (Chúa Tiên) and Holy Mother.
In the foundational layer formed during the Lý and Trần periods, the original shrine stood right beside the Red River rapids under the Sino-Vietnamese name Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện (天仙古殿, Ancient Palace of Celestial Immortals). The northern bank of the Red River stretching from Bồ Đề and Ái Mộ across to Thổ Lỗi (Dương Xá) and Ngọc Quỳnh (Như Quỳnh) was the homeland and sphere of Buddhist and agricultural patronage of Imperial Consort and Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan (birth name Lê Thị Yến or Lê Thị Khiết, 1044 - 1117, Empress of King Lý Thánh Tông and mother of King Lý Nhân Tông, who twice served as regent and was revered by the people as a living Bodhisattva Guanyin and Holy Mother Ỷ Lan). In the folk consciousness of ancient Gia Lâm, the image of Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan, the Three Royal Princesses and Mother Goddess Thoải (the white-robed Mother Goddess governing the Water Palace) blended together as guardians of fishing communities and river dikes along the left bank of the Red River.
When examining historical records and local traditions concerning the title Ghềnh Temple (Lady Ỷ Lan Temple) and the historical figure secretly enshrined in the Rear Sanctuary, the library records both streams clearly so that readers can grasp the full historical context without confusion. First, within the ancient cultural region of Gia Lâm and Văn Lâm (both formerly part of Kinh Bắc Governorate), there are two historic temples sharing the vernacular name Đền Ghềnh: one in Ngọc Quỳnh Hamlet (Như Quỳnh Town, former Văn Lâm District, Hưng Yên Province, about fifteen kilometers from Bồ Đề), which is the principal temple founded on the site of the 1115 traveling palace dedicated to Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan, and Ghềnh Temple in Ái Mộ Hamlet, Bồ Đề Ward beside the Red River, which carries both the regional veneration of Lady Ỷ Lan and Mẫu Thoải among residents of former Gia Thụy Canton and the direct historical tragedy of Princess Lê Ngọc Hân.
According to Hanoi cultural heritage dossiers and local historical records of Bắc Ninh and Gia Lâm: Lê Ngọc Hân (born 1770) was the twenty-first daughter of King Lê Hiển Tông and Imperial Consort Nguyễn Thị Huyền (a native of Phù Ninh Village, popularly called Nành Village, Ninh Hiệp Commune, former Gia Lâm District). At age sixteen (1786), she married Bắc Bình Vương Nguyễn Huệ and was invested as Right Palace Empress and then Northern Palace Empress (Bắc Cung Hoàng hậu) when Emperor Quang Trung ascended the throne in 1788. After Emperor Quang Trung died suddenly in 1792, she composed the celebrated elegy Ai tư vãn, and passed away in Phú Xuân (Huế) on the 8th day of the 11th lunar month of the Kỷ Mùi year (1799) at age twenty-nine. Shortly afterward, her two young children by Emperor Quang Trung, Prince Nguyễn Quang Đức and Princess Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Bảo, also died. In 1804, her mother Lady Nguyễn Thị Huyền secretly hired a boat to bring the remains of her daughter and two grandchildren from Phú Xuân back to her maternal home in Nành Village for burial and built a small shrine. However, toward the end of Emperor Minh Mạng's reign or the beginning of Emperor Thiệu Trị's reign (around 1841 - 1843), an informer reported to the Huế court that Nành Village was worshipping a Tây Sơn empress. The Nguyễn court ordered the shrine razed, the tombs exhumed, and the remains of Lê Ngọc Hân and her two children cast into the Red River right at the swirling rapids of Ái Mộ Village (Bồ Đề). Legend relates that as the mandarins' boat reached the middle of the Ái Mộ rapids to dump the bones, the sky darkened and a fierce gale whipped the waves into a torrent. Deeply moved by the fate of the accomplished Lê princess (whom folk tradition revered as Chúa Tiên, the Fairy Princess), the villagers of Ái Mộ held a riverside rite at Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện, carved statues of her and her two children, and enshrined them deep behind the altars of Mẫu Thoải and the Three Princesses to shield them from Nguyễn dynasty surveillance for over a century.
The way the villagers of Ái Mộ and Bồ Đề sheltered Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân and her two children beneath the compassionate mantle of Mother Goddess Thoải, Holy Mother Ỷ Lan and the Three and Four Palaces pantheon is a vivid testimony to the inclusive and humane spirit of Vietnamese Mother Goddess religion (Đạo Mẫu). In Four Palaces teaching, the Holy Mothers, Royal Ladies (Chầu Bà), Damsels (Cô) and Young Lords (Cậu) are not only nature deities governing Heaven (Thiên Phủ), Mountains and Forests (Nhạc Phủ), Waters (Thoải Phủ) and Earth (Địa Phủ), but also manifestations of historical heroines, empresses and princesses who rendered service to the nation or suffered profound injustice. The waters of the Water Palace at the Ái Mộ rapids served both to cleanse the grievance of the ill-fated empress and her children and to transform historical sorrow into benevolent protective energy for the community.
Many visitors who come to pray at Ghềnh Temple in Bồ Đề know it only as an efficacious shrine to Mother Goddess Thoải for fortune and safety on the water, without realizing that the graceful, pensive female statue placed in the innermost tabernacle of the Rear Sanctuary, flanked by two smaller figures, is the commemorative portrait of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân alongside Prince Nguyễn Quang Đức and Princess Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Bảo. Protected beneath the liturgy of Mẫu Thoải and the Three Royal Princesses, the memory and incense offerings for the Tây Sơn empress were preserved intact by the riverside inhabitants through every political upheaval.
IIHistory from Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện through the 1858 restoration to the present
Standing on the historic alluvial strip of Bồ Đề and Ái Mộ, which once served as the headquarters of Bình Định Vương Lê Lợi and Nguyễn Trãi during the siege of Đông Quan Citadel in 1427, Ghềnh Temple has weathered centuries of Red River floods, bank erosion and community restorations.
According to inscriptions and oral traditions preserved in Bồ Đề Ward, the ancient shrine Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện was founded during the Lý and Trần eras right at the edge of the Ái Mộ river rapids. Over centuries of storms and seasonal Red River floods, the riverside shrine faced imminent collapse from bank erosion. The decisive turning point that gave the temple its present architectural form occurred in the Mậu Ngọ year, the 11th year of Emperor Tự Đức (1858): a benevolent local woman of Ái Mộ Hamlet named Madame Đặng Thị Bản donated land and personal funds and mobilized villagers to relocate the shrine slightly inland onto firmer ground, expanding its layout into a Front Hall, Middle Hall and Rear Sanctuary and renaming it Thiên Quang Linh Từ (天光靈祠, Sacred Temple of Celestial Light).
Regarding the year of its ranking as a National Historical and Cultural Heritage Site, the library records a minor difference among published sources for reference: several studies on Mother Goddess religion and Long Biên local culture note that Ghềnh Temple was included in the national heritage inventory and recognition process in 1991 (while the namesake Ghềnh Temple dedicated to Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan in Như Quỳnh, Văn Lâm was ranked by the Ministry of Culture and Information on 2 February 1993), whereas several Hanoi tourism and heritage portals record the issuance of the National Heritage certificate for Ghềnh Temple in Bồ Đề in 1994. Between 2005 and 2010, in preparation for the Millennial Anniversary of Thăng Long - Hanoi, Ghềnh Temple underwent comprehensive restoration by the authorities and residents of Bồ Đề Ward. Administratively, prior to 2003 the temple belonged to Ái Mộ Hamlet (and Phú Viên Street), Bồ Đề Commune, Gia Lâm District, from November 2003 it belonged to Bồ Đề Ward, Long Biên District, and under Resolution No. 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 2025, Phú Viên Street and Ghềnh Temple continue to belong to the newly reorganized Bồ Đề Ward directly under Hanoi City.
- Lý - Trần eraFounding of the ancient shrine Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện beside the rapidsResidents on the northern bank of the Red River erected the ancient shrine Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện above the swirling Ái Mộ rapids to worship the Water Spirit (Mẫu Thoải), Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan and the princesses of the water realm.
- 1427Historical imprint of the Bồ Đề headquarters during the Lam Sơn uprisingThe Bồ Đề and Ái Mộ riverbank around the shrine served as the headquarters from which King Lê Thái Tổ (Lê Lợi) and Nguyễn Trãi directed the siege of Đông Quan Citadel.
- 1799 - 1804Passing of Empress Lê Ngọc Hân and secret reburial in Nành VillageNorthern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân died in Phú Xuân in 1799 at age 29 along with her two young children. In 1804, her mother Lady Nguyễn Thị Huyền secretly brought their remains back to Nành Village (Gia Lâm).
- 1841 - 1843Exhumation of the tombs and veiled enshrinement at Ghềnh TempleThe Nguyễn court discovered the shrine in Nành Village, ordered the tombs exhumed and dumped the remains of Lê Ngọc Hân and her two children into the Red River rapids at Ái Mộ. Villagers enshrined their spirits behind the altar of Mẫu Thoải at Ghềnh Temple.
- 1858Madame Đặng Thị Bản leads the grand restoration of Thiên Quang Linh TừIn the 11th year of Tự Đức (Mậu Ngọ, 1858), threatened by river erosion, Madame Đặng Thị Bản rallied villagers to move the shrine to firmer ground and rebuild it under the name Thiên Quang Linh Từ.
- 1991 - 1994Ranked as a National Historical and Cultural Heritage SiteGhềnh Temple was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information as a National Historical and Cultural Heritage Site (sources record the dossier and ranking milestones in 1991 or 1994).
- 2025Part of the reorganized Bồ Đề Ward under Resolution 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15Following Hanoi's 2025 commune-level administrative reorganization, the Phú Viên Street area and Ghềnh Temple remain within Bồ Đề Ward directly under Hanoi City.
IIIArchitecture of Thiên Quang Linh Từ, Four Palaces altars and the Rear Sanctuary
Though now nestled within the riverside neighborhood of Phú Viên Street, Ghềnh Temple (Thiên Quang Linh Từ) preserves the traditional spatial structure of a northern delta Mother Goddess and historical spirit temple. The complex opens with a four-pillar Ceremonial Gateway (Nghi môn) with arched entrances, crowned by seated mythical lions (nghê) and four phoenixes, facing toward the Red River channel where the great rapids once churned. Immediately behind the gateway stands a spirit screen (bình phong) sculpted in relief with a water-coiling dragon and tiger mask to ward off harmful river currents, opening onto a red-brick courtyard shaded by ancient trees. Flanking the courtyard are the guest hall, Mother hall, the Shrines of the Damsel and Young Lord (lầu Cô, lầu Cậu) and the Sơn Trang Grotto built of blue-grey limestone rocks.
The main sanctuary is arranged on a Tam (三) plan consisting of three parallel halls running from front to back: the Front Hall (Tiền tế), the Middle Hall (Trung tế / Second Hall) and the Rear Sanctuary (Hậu cung / Forbidden Sanctuary). Its load-bearing frame is built of ironwood and fine hardwood, with roof trusses joined in stacked-beam gong-stand (chồng rường giá chiêng) style. The spandrels, brackets and ceremonial valances (cửa võng) are richly carved in openwork with the four sacred animals (dragon, unicorn, turtle, phoenix), twin dragons flanking the moon, carp transforming into dragons, and lotus flowers amid river waves, hallmark motifs of shrines dedicated to Water Deities and the Mother Goddess of Water.
The Three and Four Palaces pantheon and the innermost tabernacle
Stepping into the gilded interior beneath layers of carved valances and 19th-century incense tables, visitors encounter a tightly ordered ritual hierarchy. In the Front Hall and Middle Hall stand the altars of the Three and Four Palaces pantheon (Tam Tứ Phủ công đồng): the central tiers honor the Jade Emperor and the Three Holy Mothers (Tam Tòa Thánh Mẫu) (the First Mother of Heaven in red, the Second Mother of Mountains and Forests in green, and with special prominence the Third Mother of Water / Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ in white), followed by the Five Mandarin Lords (Ngũ Vị Tôn Ông), the Royal Ladies (Tứ Phủ Chầu Bà), the Mandarin Princes (Tứ Phủ Ông Hoàng) (notably Ông Hoàng Bơ Thoải, Ông Hoàng Bảy and Ông Hoàng Mười), the altar of Saint Trần (Hưng Đạo Đại Vương Trần Quốc Tuấn), and the lower altar of the Five Tigers and the White and Green Serpents.
Deep within the Rear Sanctuary (Hậu cung), behind multiple layers of gilded dragon-and-phoenix valances, stand the tabernacles of the Holy Mother, Lady Ỷ Lan / the Three Princesses and the statue of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân. The statue portrays a noblewoman seated upon a throne with an oval face and gentle eyes touched by quiet sorrow, flanked by two smaller figures representing Prince Nguyễn Quang Đức and Princess Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Bảo along with attendants. The temple also preserves valuable 19th- and early-20th-century artifacts from the Nguyễn era: the horizontal board inscribed Thiên Quang Linh Từ (天光靈祠), plaques praising the virtue of the Holy Mother and the Fairy Princess, curved parallel sentences recalling the Ái Mộ rapids, bronze bells and gongs, ancestral thrones and Nguyễn dynasty royal investiture edicts.
An antique four-pillar gateway looking toward the northern bank of the Red River where the swirling rapids once lay, paired with a scroll-shaped spirit screen sculpted with a water-coiling dragon.
The main ritual space adorned with gilded openwork valances of the four sacred animals and river waves, honoring the Three Holy Mothers (centered on Mẫu Đệ Tam Thoải Phủ), the Five Mandarin Lords, Royal Ladies, Princes and Saint Trần.
The innermost sanctuary where villagers of Ái Mộ placed the tabernacles of the Holy Mother and the Three Princesses while secretly venerating the statues of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân and her two children throughout the Nguyễn era.
Side shrines dedicated to the Lady of the Mountains (Chúa Thượng Ngàn) with her Twelve Fairy Maids and to Cô Bơ Thoải and Cậu Bơ Thoải, completing the spatial layout of a northern Mother Goddess temple.
Nineteenth-century Sino-Vietnamese boards and couplets praising the sacred qi of the Nhị Hà rapids and recording the 1858 restoration led by Madame Đặng Thị Bản in the 11th year of Tự Đức.
IVThe lie of the land and the facing
This section is the library's own reading through the eyes of traditional form-school feng shui on the ground along the northern bank of the Red River in Bồ Đề, not something recorded in the temple's inscriptions. We state this plainly so that readers can distinguish historical documentation from geomantic interpretation.
Viewed on the hydrographic map of the capital Thăng Long at coordinates 21.03778 degrees North latitude and 105.86556 degrees East longitude, Ghềnh Temple stands right on the left (northern) bank of the Red River (Nhị Hà), at the bend where the river sweeps past the historic lands of Ái Mộ and Phú Viên (just downstream from present-day Long Biên and Chương Dương Bridges). In classical water geomancy, as the Red River descends from the northwest (Phú Thọ and Sơn Tây) toward Thăng Long and strikes the Bồ Đề bend, it creates a water-mouth convergence and swirling rapid (Thủy tụ): while the southern bank (Hoàn Kiếm) receives alluvial deposition, the northern bank (Ái Mộ and Bồ Đề) takes the direct impact of the swift current, forming a great rapid (ghềnh). According to feng shui principles, the point where a great water dragon turns and swirls into a rapid is where Water-element qi erupts most powerfully, calling for a shrine to the Water Spirit and Mother Goddess Thoải to pacify the waters and transform fierce current into life-giving qi protecting the dikes and river craft.
Regarding orientation and the bright hall (Minh đường), the main gate and sacred axis of Ghềnh Temple face Southwest directly toward the broad expanse of the Red River, while the back of the temple rests against the higher ground of Ái Mộ, Phú Viên and the Gia Lâm plain to the northeast as its rear backing (Hậu chẩm). The wide channel of the Red River in front of the gate serves as a great water-gathering bright hall (Đại Minh đường tụ thủy), while Hanoi's Old Quarter and the southern bank across the river act as the front screen (Tiền án). In terms of the Five Elements and Mother Goddess cosmology, the Water Palace (Thoải Phủ) belongs to the Water element, placing a shrine to Mẫu Thoải and a sanctuary consoling the spirit of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân (whose remains merged with the waves of the Nhị Hà) right above the great rapid of the mother river achieves true positional harmony (đắc thủy đắc vị), linking the sacred energy of both banks of Thăng Long.
VThe eighth-lunar-month Ghềnh Temple Festival and the Red River water procession
Held annually, the Ghềnh Temple Traditional Festival is one of the most distinctive riverside festivals of the Long Biên and Gia Lâm region, blending the agricultural Red River water-fetching procession, the commemoration of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân, and the spirit mediumship (hầu đồng) and chầu văn ritual singing of the Three and Four Palaces Mother Goddess tradition (inscribed by UNESCO as Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016).
According to the ancient custom of Ái Mộ and Phú Viên, the main festival of Ghềnh Temple takes place in autumn from the 3rd to the 12th day of the eighth lunar month (with the main festival days running from the 6th to the 12th). The festival opens on the 3rd day of the eighth lunar month with the Water Procession on the Red River: a flotilla of dragon boats decked with flags, accompanied by male and female ritual teams and dragon dancers, rows out from the Ghềnh Temple landing to the deepest, cleanest midstream current of the Red River (where the remains of Princess Lê Ngọc Hân and her two children once entered the river), performing a rite to draw sacred water into porcelain jars and carry it back to the temple to bathe the spirit tablets (lễ Mộc dục) and present to the Holy Mother. From the 6th to the 12th day of the eighth month, Mother Goddess associations from across Hanoi and the northern delta gather at Ghềnh Temple to offer incense and perform chầu văn hymns praising the Three Holy Mothers, Mẫu Thoải, Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan and the Fairy Princess Lê Ngọc Hân prior to the autumn pilgrimages to Kiếp Bạc and Bảo Lộc Temples.
| Lunar date | Festival name | Key rituals and cultural activities |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd day of the 8th lunar month | Red River Water Procession and Bathing Rite | Palanquin and dragon-boat procession to midstream of the Red River in front of Ghềnh Temple to draw sacred water for cleansing the sacred tablets, praying for calm waters and honoring Princess Lê Ngọc Hân. |
| 6th to 12th day of the 8th lunar month | Main Traditional Festival of Ghềnh Temple | Traditional sacrifices by elders of Bồ Đề Ward, palanquin processions along Phú Viên and Ái Mộ, chầu văn ritual singing for the Holy Mothers, dragon dances and boat races on the Red River. |
| 3rd lunar month and 10th day of the 6th lunar month | Third-Month Mother Feast and Feast of Mẫu Thoải | Mother Goddess associations and ritual masters hold incense offerings and spirit mediumship rites honoring Mother Liễu Hạnh (3rd of the 3rd month) and the Third Mother of Water (10th of the 6th month). |
| 8th day of the 11th lunar month | Death anniversary of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân | Residents of Bồ Đề Ward, villagers from Nành Village (Ninh Hiệp) and pilgrims offer incense commemorating the passing of Empress Lê Ngọc Hân (8th of the 11th month, Kỷ Mùi year 1799). |
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Ngõ 22 phố Phú Viên (thôn Ái Mộ / Phú Viên xưa), tổ 2, phường Bồ Đề (quận Long Biên cũ, trước năm 2003 thuộc huyện Gia Lâm cũ), thành phố Hà Nội
- Getting there
- From central Hanoi (around Hoàn Kiếm Lake), cross Chương Dương Bridge to the northern bank of the Red River (about 3 kilometers), immediately after the main bridge span, turn right onto the Bồ Đề dike road and descend the Phú Viên slope (Alley 22, Phú Viên Street) right beside the river's edge to reach Ghềnh Temple.
- Coordinates
- 21.03778, 105.86556
When visiting Ghềnh Temple beside the Red River, please note that the Middle Hall and Rear Sanctuary contain antique carved wooden valances and solemn tabernacles. Visitors are asked to dress modestly, maintain quiet and order during traditional sacrifices or spirit mediumship ceremonies, limit the burning of votive paper, never open the curtains of the Forbidden Sanctuary without permission, and help keep the Phú Viên riverbank clean.
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?Quick Questions
What is the Sino-Vietnamese name of Ghềnh Temple in Bồ Đề Ward and why is it called Ghềnh Temple?
Ghềnh Temple bears the Sino-Vietnamese title Thiên Quang Linh Từ (Sacred Temple of Celestial Light, prior to 1858 it was called Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện). It is called Ghềnh Temple because in former times a large, swirling rapid (ghềnh) lay right in front of the temple on the Red River where the current struck the Ái Mộ bank, prompting passing boats to stop and pray for safety.
Who is worshipped at Ghềnh Temple and why do two layers of belief converge here?
Ghềnh Temple brings together two layers of belief: first, the Three and Four Palaces Mother Goddess pantheon centered on the Third Mother of Water (Mẫu Thoải), Empress Dowager Ỷ Lan and the Three Royal Princesses, second, the veiled veneration by Ái Mộ villagers of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân and her two young children behind the altars of Mẫu Thoải and the Fairy Princess to shield them from Nguyễn dynasty persecution.
How is the story of Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân connected to Ghềnh Temple?
After Northern Palace Empress Lê Ngọc Hân (consort of Emperor Quang Trung Nguyễn Huệ) and her two young children died in Phú Xuân, her mother secretly brought their remains back to her maternal home in Nành Village (Ninh Hiệp, Gia Lâm). Under the Minh Mạng and Thiệu Trị reigns, the Nguyễn court discovered the shrine, exhumed the graves and dumped their remains into the Red River rapids at Ái Mộ, leading local villagers to enshrine their spirits inside Ghềnh Temple.
Who led the major restoration of Ghềnh Temple in 1858?
In the Mậu Ngọ year, the 11th year of Emperor Tự Đức (1858), when Red River bank erosion threatened the old Thiên Tiên Cổ Điện shrine at the water's edge, a benevolent local woman of Ái Mộ named Madame Đặng Thị Bản donated funds and rallied villagers to relocate the temple onto firmer ground and rebuild it as Thiên Quang Linh Từ.
When does the Ghềnh Temple Festival take place each year?
The main festival of Ghềnh Temple runs from the 3rd to the 12th day of the eighth lunar month each year (with the main days from the 6th to the 12th), opening with a dragon-boat procession to draw sacred water from midstream of the Red River on the 3rd day of the eighth month. The temple also holds Mother Goddess feasts in the third and sixth lunar months and commemorates Empress Lê Ngọc Hân on the 8th day of the eleventh lunar month.