Dajia Jenn Lann Temple

Cultural heritage

Dajia Jenn Lann Temple, popularly the Dajia Mazu Temple, stands in Taichung's Dajia District, founded around 1730 in the Yongzheng reign and dedicated to the Holy Mother of Heaven, Mazu; it is one of the most representative houses of Mazu worship in Taiwan. Its carved beams and painted lintels blend Min-nan and local craft, the temple is thronged year-round, and its lunar-March pilgrimage draws millions of faithful and visitors, among Taiwan's greatest religious events.

Visiting: Entering the temple, one meets the gilded main hall and finely wrought dragon columns, stone panels and wood carvings, the rising incense and the bowing faithful weaving a solemn dialogue between the human and the divine; outside the pilgrimage season visitors can study the plaque inscriptions, couplets and koche pottery of successive eras and feel the weight of three centuries of devotion, while in lunar March they may join the pilgrim column and experience the awe of "Mazu madness."