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As this page is all about temples I should talk a little about religion in Taiwan. I'll have to keep it simple because I am really not qualified.

It's not as if all Taiwan is temples, I hope you got that in the previous section, but they are common and believe it or not after a while you can get kind of inured to them. Sometimes when hiking we would find one and be much more interested in finding the water fountain than seeing the temple itself. Yet as you will see, some of the temples are extraordinarily photogenic.

Dispatch 10d

The Temples of Taiwan

I am not religious myself but even so I'll admit, it was a bit jarring to see clearly sincere worshipers bowing and praying to statues of a legion of gods I had never heard of.

Although some of the more elaborate temples do attract tourists, these are living religions. The temples are not designed as tourist attractions but places of devout worship and community centers.

Hey dude, how do you make your eyebrows grow like dreadlocks?

A very simple bin for burning spirit money.

I mis-read the word “Money” as “Monkey”.

Of all the strange things one might prohibit, I thought. “Ghost Monkeys?”; I don't even have a regular monkey and I have no idea how to even procure a ghost monkey, in fact I would be quite fascinated to even see one.

Right: An elaborately carved temple pillar. In the background a pot for burning incense, they burn a lot of that to. Ghost money is burned in a different container.

Some special deity's for scholars. The pink cards in front are prayers from students wishing to do well on exams. Some seem to get more prayers than others, perhaps they have a better track record.

27 Sept 2012 Above: Repetition seems to be a big theme in some temples (as you will see again). Here there are hundreds of tiny lighted idols.

Right: If you look carefully at the closeup you can see each has it's own small magnifier in it's window.

Photos from various days - Above: The roofs of temples are often marked by remarkably detailed ornamentation.

Right and Below: A Close up look

25 Oct 2012 This is Xuan Wu as portrayed at the Lotus Lake in Kaohsiung

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Folks also like to burn the celestial money in special scenic or nature areas but nowadays that is often forbidden for safety.
I was already a bit familiar with what we referred to as "Celestial Money" but not used to the common translation "Ghost Money" when I saw this sign at a remote lake in Yangmingshan park.

There is also a strong element of ancestor worship in Taiwan. It is an old practice to burn money as a way to send it to the dead. Well, they don't use regular currency, they purchase a kind of spirit or celestial money at the temples or nearby. It's paper printed to vaguely resemble money. Whatever it's called this is often translated as “Ghost Money” It might be burned in anything from a humble metal bin to an elaborate statue.

18 Sept 2012 One commonly portrayed god is this lovely lady, known by various names, Guanyin Goddess of Mercy will do for us. She is a Buddhist god, though sometime she appears in Taoist temples as well. Those are the two most common religions and the practices get blended sometimes and can include folk religion also. In Taoism Mazu is the major Goddess, she is Goddess of the sea. There is but a dash of Christianity in Taiwan (about 4%).

You can climb up inside this statue in Zhongzheng (Jhongjheng) Park. Looking out from one of her portholes (below) you can see Keelung City harbor.

Above: A young woman burning "spirit" or "ghost" money outside her place of business in the middle of the city.

To right: A large and very fancy temple spirit money burner. The mouth of the chimera forms a chimney to send the cash on it's way to your dear ghostly ancestors.

25 Oct 2012 This is at Lotus lake in Kaohsiung. If my research is correct it is the Spring and Autumn Pavilion and that's Guanyin dressed in white on the dragons back. (Don't know the guys)

At the Spring and Autumn Pavilion you walk right into this dragons mouth and come out, well hmmm at the um other end.

Inside the dragon is a winding corridor with freshly painted bright murals depicting scenes from the life of Buddha and stairs going up and down. I believe walking here was far more pleasant that being swallowed by a real dragon.

Exit The Dragon

Some other unusual deity statues we encountered

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10e Jiajiuliao and Silver Stream Cave

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Here is a great place for a slideshow!

Below is a link to a Google Photo Album with lots more higher resolution temple photos. Now would be a great time to try the slideshow feature. Open the album and click the three vertical dots (The kebab Menu), select "Slideshow", sit back and enjoy.

A Photo Album, The Temples of Taiwan

PS: This is not the last of the temples. In particular I have excluded photos of the massive Buddhist complex near Kaohsiung because it gets a whole album of it's own.

But here is a good place to put this video. It's longer than any other video clip, I guess because whatever your religious predilection these temples are pretty visually interesting places.

Temples of Taiwan Video 7 Minutes