Wenwu Temple (文武廟), Nantou County of Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

Visited the Wenwu Temple (文武廟) (N23.86960 E120.92685) after the Lake Cruise. There were many stalls in front of the temple selling souvenirs and local foods...

Before we step into the temple, I was attracted by this staircase...it was Full of little lantern bell on the both sides...

The staircase was locked with grill door and it's not accessible for public...and there was a write up about it beside the door...

"Getting to Wenwu Temple in earlier days was not so convenient as it is now; there was no round-the-lake road, and visitors had to take a boat to the pier below the temple and then climb up a lot of steps. Because the slope was so steep, the steps were called the "Stairway to Heaven". Now the steps are not needed to get to the temple, and they have been renovated into a 150-meter path with 366 steps the symbolize the 366 days in a leap year. The name of a historical personage is carved on each step, and the steps also incorporate the 24 bells on the two sides of the steps; the bells chime in the wind adding much to the romantic atmosphere. If you want to hang your own bell, ask the temple official how to do it."

The Little Lantern Bell

"The Wenwu Temple was established in BC1812, which was meant to be a place for youth people advocating the loyalty and learning martial arts. The Wen Shrine worships the Wenchang Dijun while the Wu Temple worships the Guansheng Dijun. Two temples lines each other in a wall. In that, the two are together called Wenwu Temple." You can read more about the history of the temple here.

The temple is guarded with 2 big Red Lions on both side

I was really attracted by the stone and wood carved within the temple! Amazing! You can see the nice wood carved at the roof before you step in...it's all over everywhere in the temple.

The two tigers beside the temple

The first hall of the temple...

There are total 3 main halls in the temple...we visited one by one slowly...

And we continue to the second hall...it was full of the little lantern bells again!

The second hall

The Little Lantern Bell

Beautiful stone carved

The decoration was very nice! And we slowly proceed to the third hall...

Behind the third hall, there was still some construction work carried on, I believe the restoration of the temple has not complete yet. But the stone carved was Awesome! It's all about Confucius.

We climbed up to the highest point of the temple just to snapped some nice photos about the temple...

The roofs of the temples

I can't post all the photos of the temple, because there are about 100 photos taken...
If you like to take nice photo of the temple, try to visit it on sunny day.

We hanged around the temple about 45 minutes and everyone were hungry...and we started the food hunt again! :)

The Wenwu Temple of Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

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*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Location map of Wenwu Temple at Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

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Syuanguang Temple (玄光寺) at Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

Syuanguang Temple (N23.85179 E120.91359) was the First destination of the Sun Moon Lake cruise. It's located at about 800 meter above sea level.

Syuanguang Temple Pier

The entrance to Syuanguang Temple.

Once we stepped into the entrance, there were many peoples queuing for the Famous 'Herbal Egg' (茶叶蛋)! I told myself, I'll try it later when we back to the Pier....
Clear signage in front of us, and you will Never lost within the area...

"The Syuanguang Temple Pier is the starting point for the 850 meter Cinglong Mountain Hiking Trail. Follow the steps upward, you will reach the Syuanguang Temple; continue onward, and you will get to Syuanzang Temple. This trail is also called "Pilgrim's Trail" because of the large numbers of religious devotees who take boats to the pier to worship at the two temples."

Got to climb before the temple...

The Syuanguang Temple (玄光寺)

I didn't step into the temple, because it was small and many devotees around...there were many peoples queue up in front of the temple too, it was because of everyone want to take photo with the Landmark - Sun Moon Lake Stone Craft.

Outside of the temple

The Stone where every tourist like to take photo with it!

I found this part was somehow interesting!

Beside the temple, the place also is a Nice spot to view the Sun Moon Lake...sharing some photos around the area...

The Scenery view of Sun Moon lake, Lalu island in the middle of the lake...

After the temple, we saw the trail behind...it is the Cinlong Mountain Trail. We explored the trail and try to see any surprises...

Flowers before the trail...

The well maintained ascending trail...to Cinlong Mountain

Along the way, this were what we saw...

We stopped halfway and didn't continue the trail because of the Hot weather, and we decided to save our time to Ita-Thao Village in our next destination.

If you visit Sun Moon Lake in the tight schedule, you can actually skip this temple. For us, it was nothing much over here...

While we running down to the jetty to catch the ferry and...I forgot to buy the Famous Herbal Egg! Damn! What a miss!

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Location map of Syuanguang Temple, Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

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Chung Tai Chan Monastery (中台禪寺) at Puli Township - Taichung, Taiwan

The Chung Tai Chan Monastery (中台禪寺) (N24.01069 E120.945309) is located at Puli Township of Taichung, Taiwan. It's the Biggest Monastery in the World and Taiwan for the moment.

"Following the Grand Master’s compassionate vow to provide a complete environment for all who wish to learn the Buddhist teachings, the design of Chung Tai Chan Monastery began in 1992."

"After three years of planning and seven years of construction, this landmark building opened its doors on September 1, 2001, initiating a new era of Buddhism dissemination for Chung Tai." Source from here.

There was no entrance fee, we got our cameras ready and started another photography session in the Monastery.

The Main entrance of Chung Tai Chan Monastery

Once we stepped in, there was a Golden Bridge appeared in front of us.

The Golden Bridge

The Write up about the Golden Bridge

And the whole Bridge was made by brass...(some wording on the bridge)

And there were many small lions on the railing of the bridge, all of them have different design...maybe they have different meaning by each of them.

The little lion on the bridge

Tourist from China Mainland

We continued to walk up the main building...there were 2 guardians on both side of the main entrance to the building. And there was a huge Buddha statue on the other side of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery.

The two Guardians at both side

Another Giant Buddha Statue opposite of the Monastery

The Main entrance to the building

If you like to know more about the Chung Tai Chan Monastery, you can visit here (in Chinese). And also there was a write up below...

The write up about the Chung Tai Chan Monastery

Before we step in, the was a Nice Laughing Buddha statue in the middle, and two Red lions on both side...

The Laughing Buddha

The Red Lion

I was admiring by the unique design of the ceiling for quite some times....it was Nice!

The Unique Design of the Ceiling

Then we noticed there were Four Huge Guardian Gods situated at the four corners, these 4 guardians named - Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王). Each of whom watches over one cardinal direction of the world. For more info about the Four Heavenly Kings, please click here. (The 4 guardians seems like also the big pillars of the hall).

Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王)

We took some times in the 1st hall and proceed to the other hall of the building...

The staircase access to another hall of the building

The Shih-cha-mo-ni 釋迦牟尼 (Deity) Statue spotted after the staircase...

Shih-cha-mo-ni 釋迦牟尼 statue

On the both side, there were two Deities which I'm not familiar with...

On the right...

I over heard from the Tour Guide of other tourist group who explained about the deity above is 'half human half evil'. Can you recognize which side is human?! :)

On the left...

The Monastery is So Huge that we won't be able visit every corner of it due to limited time we had...there are still many area yet to explore...hopefully we still have chance to visit in the future...

The Golden pillar on top of the building which words crafting on it.

We spend about an hour here and continued to explore our next destination which was about 30 minutes journey...

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

The Location Map of Chung Tai Chan Monastery at Puli Township

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