Dongyue Temple

Tainan

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People come to this temple to communicate with the dead through spirit mediums. It's a fascinating place to catch a glimpse of Taiwanese folk culture. It's said that you can hear the screams of tortured spirits at night.

The first chamber of the temple holds the God of Mount Tai, the Taoist king of the underworld; the second, Ksitigarbha bodhisattva, who vowed to not attain Buddhahood as long as there was still one suffering soul in hell; the last, a number of demon gods who rule the underworld.

The grim murals on the walls of the second chamber are as graphic as the depictions of hell by Hieronymus Bosch, including depictions of disembowelment, eye gouging, stabbing and boiling.

Transportation

  • bus: 1, 7, 17

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