Gie Sen Temple

1. Location
Gie Sen Temple, also known as the Temple of the Water Mother, is located in Noi Village, Hoai Duc Commune, Hanoi City. It is a distinctive folk-belief relic of the locality, closely associated with the worship of Mother Goddesses and the Water Deity among agricultural communities in the Northern Delta. With its tranquil, ancient atmosphere and characteristic lotus pond landscape, the temple is an attractive spiritual destination for local residents and visitors from near and far.

2. Architecture and landscape
Gie Sen Temple stands within a spacious grounds in harmony with the natural landscape. In front of the temple are large lotus ponds, remaining traces of an old branch of the Day River that once flowed through this area. The temple still preserves many traditional ritual objects such as horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, altar curtains, and ceremonial objects used in belief rituals. Notably, the Mother Goddess sanctuary still keeps four ancient stone columns, regarded by local people as sacred traces linked to the formation of the relic.

3. Deities worshipped
Gie Sen Temple is dedicated to the Water Mother (Water Deity), a deity closely tied to agricultural production and the folk beliefs of the Vietnamese people. According to legends passed down through generations, in ancient times there was an old shrine in the middle of the river in this area. A woman from the village was swept down to the underwater palace and later gave birth to two water snakes, sacred incarnations of the water deity. After she died, people believed she had transformed into the Water Mother to bless the villagers with favorable weather and good harvests. To remember her merit, the people built a temple and honored her as the Water Mother, worshipping her to this day.
In addition to the main altar dedicated to the Water Mother, the temple also worships deities in the Four Palaces belief system such as the Mother Goddess of Heaven, the Mother Goddess of Forests and Mountains, the Mountain Lord, and Mandarin Tran of the Tran Dynasty, creating a distinctive folk-belief space of the Hoai Duc area.

4. Festival
The Gie Sen Temple festival is held twice a year. The main festival takes place from the 20th to the 21st day of the second lunar month, with the 21st being the main festival day; the second festival takes place from the 21st to the 22nd day of the eighth lunar month. A folk saying is still passed down: 'The eighth month is the Father's feast, the third month is the Mother's feast,' expressing the community's attachment to Mother Goddess worship.
The festival includes many distinctive traditional rituals such as incense offering, palanquin procession, spirit mediumship, and sacrificial ceremonies. Alongside the solemn ritual part are rich folk cultural activities such as quan ho singing on boats, rice-cooking contests, Chinese chess, human chess, cockfighting, and cultural exchange performances. This is an occasion for local people to pray for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, and to remember the merit of the Water Mother.

5. Relic ranking
With its outstanding historical, cultural, and folk-belief values, Gie Sen Temple (Water Mother Temple) was ranked by the Hanoi City People's Committee as a City-level Historical-Cultural Relic under Decision No. 842/QD-UBND dated February 21, 2018. Today, the temple is not only a center of belief activities for local people but also a unique spiritual destination, contributing to enriching the cultural heritage system of Hoai Duc Commune.