Tainan Mituo Temple

Tainan Mituo Temple

Tainan Mituo Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Tainan Mituo Temple is located in East District, Tainan City. It was built during the Zheng Jing period of the Ming Zheng regime (referring to the regime led by the Zheng family from the Southern Ming to early Qing dynasties, which aimed to restore the former territories of the Ming Dynasty), and is one of the Four Great Ancient Temples of Tainan. The current Mituo Temple is the result of renovation work started in 1981 (the 60th year of the Republic of China), and it no longer retains its former Southern Fujian architectural style.

When Mituo Temple was first established, it was relatively small and was originally called “Mituo Chamber,” enshrining the Amitabha Buddha. It was gradually expanded during the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi era and was subsequently renamed “Mituo Temple.” During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, the temple was listed as one of the Seven Temples and Eight Shrines of Taiwan Prefecture City. During World War II, the temple was bombed by the Allied forces. Although it underwent repairs after the war, the original structure was eventually completely demolished in 1981 (the 60th year of the Republic of China), and the present form of the temple was completed in 1991 (the 69th year of the Republic of China).

The current Mituo Temple is a three-courtyard structure. The first courtyard features a mountain gate with three bays, inside of which the Door Gods Heng and Ha are enshrined on both sides. The second courtyard houses the main hall, a three-story building. The first floor is the Mahavira Hall, where the Sakyamuni Buddha, Manjushri Bodhisattva, and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva are enshrined, while the third floor contains ancient Qing Dynasty plaques. The third courtyard is the rear hall, with the Dizang Hall located right at the center of the first floor, flanked by memorial tablets of the temple’s successive founding abbots and devotees. The second and third floors are the Scripture Depository and the Yuantong Treasure Hall, which enshrines the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, respectively.

Tainan Mituo Monastary

Must-visit reason: One of Tainan’s most famous Four Great Ancient Temples