Central Taiwan Temples
Explore representative temples in Central Taiwan, including main deities, history, and cultural features.
Dajia Zhenlan Temple
Every third lunar month, a Mazu palanquin sets out on foot with hundreds of thousands of followers — nine days and eight nights, more than 300 kilometers across the four counties and cities of Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, and Chiayi. This is Dajia Zhenlan Temple's 'Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage,' ranked by the Discovery Channel as one of the world's three great religious events. Standing in Dajia District, Taichung City, Zhenlan Temple is dedicated to Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother) and is the best-known Mazu temple in Taiwan, a stronghold of Mazu faith. In the basement beneath its gleaming golden halls sits a solid-gold 'Golden Mazu' weighing 276 kilograms, the temple's greatest treasure. To feel the almost fevered devotion the Taiwanese hold for Mazu, this is where it begins.
Beigang Chaotian Temple
Say the words 'Beigang Mazu,' and more than a thousand Mazu temples across Taiwan prick up their ears — Beigang Chaotian Temple in Beigang Township, Yunlin County, is a stronghold of Mazu faith in Taiwan and the pilgrimage 'ancestral temple' for countless Mazu temples, a status so lofty it is listed as a National Monument. Dedicated to Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother), Chaotian Temple has divided-incense branches around the globe, and every third lunar month at Mazu's birthday, pilgrimage groups from everywhere flood this little town — gongs and drums thundering, incense curling — carrying the 'Mazu frenzy' to its height. The temple's stone carving and cut-porcelain work preserve splendid Qing-dynasty architectural art; the Zhongshan Road out front is the famous street of wedding cakes and sesame oil, a stretch of traditional good flavors.
Lugang Tianhou Temple
There is only one in all Taiwan — Lugang Tianhou Temple enshrines the founding Holy Mother statue from the ancestral temple in Meizhou, the thing this temple in Lukang Township, Changhua County, is proudest of. Dedicated to Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother), its statue has been darkened to a glossy black by centuries of incense smoke, affectionately called 'Black-Faced Mazu.' The temple is grand in scale, its wood and stone carving all from master hands, and the 'Eight-Trigram Caisson Ceiling' of the main hall is a jewel of Taiwanese craftsmanship. To step inside is to step into the prosperous old dream of 'first Tainan, second Lukang, third Manka.' Each new year, worshippers vie to light 'Bright Lamps' and 'settle the year' (an taisui), so that a spot is often hard to find.
Baishatun Gongtian Temple
No one knows which way Mazu will go today — and that is exactly what makes Baishatun Gongtian Temple so captivating. In Tongxiao Township, Miaoli County, Gongtian Temple is dedicated to the 'soft-bodied' Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother) and is one of the most strong-willed Mazu temples in Taiwan. Its annual walking pilgrimage to Beigang Chaotian Temple follows no fixed route at all; the direction is decided entirely by Mazu's palanquin — nicknamed the 'Pink Supercar' — improvising as it goes, full of mystery and surprise. The pilgrimage procession moves fast and urgently, and often turns into schools, hospitals, or private homes to give blessings, scattering Mazu's approachable compassion into ordinary households all along the way.
Changhua Nanyao Temple
A Mazu temple hiding Greek column capitals, Japanese black tiles, and a Western dormer window — this is the most astonishing sight at Changhua Nanyao Temple in Changhua City. Dedicated to Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother) and affectionately known as 'Changhua Ma,' Nanyao Temple's main hall is traditional Minnan architecture, yet its rear 'Guanyin Hall' is deeply influenced by Western architecture — a fusion of East and West extremely rare among Taiwan's temples, of exceptional artistic value. Nanyao Temple also has the largest Mazu association organization in Taiwan, and its annual 'Bengang Pilgrimage,' long in history, preserves ancient rites such as the 'Changing of the Dragon Robe,' a living fossil of Taiwan's pilgrimage culture.
Taichung Lecheng Temple
The longest Mazu pilgrimage in all Taiwan is right here — the Hanxi Mazu 'Procession of the Eighteen Villages' runs for a full 22 days. Commonly called the 'Hanxi Mazu Temple,' Taichung Lecheng Temple in Taichung's East District is the oldest Mazu temple in central Taichung, listed as a national third-grade historic site and dedicated to Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother). Rebuilt under the master craftsman Chen Yingbin, its wood and stone carving are exquisite. Beyond Mazu's efficacy, Lecheng Temple's 'Yue Lao Hall' is famous across Taiwan, hailed as 'the most effective Matchmaker in central Taiwan,' drawing countless single men and women each year to pray for love and joining together many a couple. To pray to Mazu and seek a good match too — here, both wishes are answered at once.
Zhushan Zinan Temple
'Borrowing' 600 NT dollars from the Earth God is the most famous thing about Zhushan Zinan Temple. In Zhushan Township, Nantou County, Zinan Temple is the most famous 'God of Wealth temple' in Taiwan, dedicated to the Earth God (Tudigong) and the God of Wealth. Worshippers borrow 600 dollars from the Earth God as 'Money Mother' to tuck into their wallets so that money will multiply endlessly, and if fortune truly comes the next year, they repay double. Every Lunar New Year the queues to borrow this 'fortune money' stretch for kilometers, becoming the largest tourist event in Nantou County. The temple also used its incense-offering funds to build a golden bamboo-shoot-shaped 'Golden Rooster Restroom,' crowned the most luxurious public toilet in Taiwan and, unexpectedly, a sight in its own right.
Songboling Shoutian Temple
Stand atop Songboling at the southern end of the Bagua Mountain range, and the Jianan Plain unfolds at your feet — this is the 'Songling Vista' unique to Songboling Shoutian Temple. In Mingjian Township, Nantou County, Shoutian Temple is one of the head ancestral temples (zumiao) of Xuantian Shangdi faith in Taiwan, dedicated to Xuantian Shangdi, with divided-incense branches numbering in the thousands and incense burning fervently. Around the birthday of Xuantian Shangdi on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, pilgrimage groups from across Taiwan arrive in an endless stream, the performance troupes lively and dazzling — one of the great events of Taiwan's religious world. To climb high and gaze afar, and to pay respects at an ancestral temple as well — this place is worth a special trip.
Beigang Wude Palace
To pray for wealth, business people come here — Beigang Wude Palace is the founding ancestral temple of the Five Road Wealth God faith in Taiwan, the largest of its kind, in Beigang Township, Yunlin County. Dedicated to the Heavenly Official Martial God of Wealth Zhao Gongming, Wude Palace is majestic in scale, and it holds a 'Sky Treasury' gold furnace several stories high, said to be the largest in the world, dedicated to burning 'Treasury-Replenishing' paper money. This is a must-visit sanctuary for business owners and entrepreneurs, its incense burning fervently, and the 'Money Mother' coins it distributes each New Year draw tens of thousands to queue. Pray for wealth, replenish your treasury, and receive Money Mother — all in one stop.
Taichung Fahua Temple
A candidate's amulet of wisdom is here at Taichung Fahua Temple. In Taichung's South District and dedicated to Manjushri Bodhisattva, Fahua Temple is a long-established Buddhist temple in the Taichung area. Manjushri symbolizes wisdom, riding a blue lion and wielding a sword to cut through ignorance and open the mind — and every exam season, students come here to pray for a clear head and success on the roll. The grounds are quiet and secluded, the architecture blending traditional and modern styles, and the temple regularly holds Buddhist lectures and meditation activities — a place in the bustling city where one can settle the mind.
Shanbian Mazu Temple
One Mazu, for decades with no temple of her own — this is the most moving devotion of Shanbian Mazu in Houlong Township, Miaoli County. Shanbian Mazu (the Heavenly Holy Mother) long kept the singular tradition of 'a deity without a temple,' hosted in turn in the home of the serving incense keeper (luzhu), until a temporary temple was finally built for her enthronement in 2013; a permanent temple is now being planned. Shanbian Mazu shares a sisterly bond with Baishatun Mazu, and for more than a century the two have insisted on sharing a single palanquin on the pilgrimage to Beigang — an indispensable presence in the procession. Her palanquin is light and nimble, often making startling moves that draw gasps from the crowd.
Xiangtianhu Pasta'ay Ceremonial Ground
The lake surface flickers in and out of the morning mist, and along its shore a mournful, ancient ritual song echoes through the night — this is Xiangtianhu (Lake Facing Heaven), set in a mountain basin about 738 meters above sea level, the primary ceremonial ground of the Saisiyat people's Pasta'ay (Ritual of the Short Spirits), and the most mysterious and moving sacred site of indigenous ceremony in Taiwan. Ringed by mountains, the scenery is dreamlike and unreal. The Pasta'ay is held as a minor ritual every two years and a grand one every ten, running for three continuous days and nights by the lakeside, using solemn ritual songs and slow steps to repent to, give thanks to, and pray to the spirits of the ancient ta'ay people. The ritual is listed as an Important Folk Cultural Asset of Taiwan; beside the ceremonial ground, the Saisiyat Pasta'ay Museum displays vital ritual objects such as hip bells and ceremonial flags.