Day #114: Taipei temples

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Although I saw hundreds of temples in Mongolia and China, Taiwan is known for its particularly ornate and atmospheric temples, so today was dedicated to seeing them. I went to three: Longshan Temple, Tien-ho Temple, and Confucius Temple (the Tien-ho Temple is much smaller than the other two).

The temples in Taipei are active with a steady stream of worshippers. The city is hot, humid and noisy, but as you walk through the gates of the temples, serenity descends and they feel like havens. The two large temples I visited today both incorporated small artificial waterfalls and ponds with koi carp and turtles swimming around (this makes the courtyards cooler and peaceful), ornate panels and icons, incense burning, and hundreds of lanterns.

At the front of the temples are huge stalls piled high with offerings for sale on red plastic plates, usually fruit or flowers. At the Buddhas, the individuals complete prostrations and also use Kau cim, which is a way of asking the Gods a question. There is a bucket full of identical-looking sticks (there is a small, hidden number on the stick which corresponds to an oracle) the worshipper picks up and then drops back into the bucket. Any stick standing aside from the rest is believed to give the oracle that will answer the question. This ritual is followed by the use of Jiaobei beads, pairs of red crescent-shaped wooden beads thrown down on the ground. These can be used on their own to ask the gods a yes-no question; the way the beads land determines the answer; or, as I saw, if they are used after the Kau cim, they confirm whether the answer given by the oracle is legitimate or not (if not, the ritual with the Kau cim is repeated).

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