Yesterday, Joey's mom, Sue, took us to the Ba-oan Temple in Taipei. Dedicated to the God of Medicine, the Temple was built in 1830. Sue told us that the Baosheng Emperor had once been a renowned for his medical knowledge, and he was revered as a god after his death.
When people come here they buy one of these bags filled with items they need for their prayers and offerings to the different deities.
In the bag were these little red candles, we lit them up, made a wish and placed them on a little peg to burn down. It is like the opposite of a birthday candle :P. I forgot to make a wish though, oopes!
Next Joey lit the incense. It is the primary way of communication with the deities. When you hold the incense it allows you to basically talk to them through prayer. The incense made the place so smokey that I couldn't stop coughing.
After you are done talking to the deities, you place the incense in one of these big pots to keep burning. Like a penny you have wished on, it is basically the physical representation of what you have spoke to the deities about.
Sue then showed us around the rest of the temple. Even though it was a gloomy and rainy day the temple was so beautiful!
On a few of the walls there are these amazing murals illustrating some of the Buddhist stories. Sue said occasionally the repaint everything so the pictures don't fade away.
Considering that every inch of the temple was carved and decorated, it must have taken forever to create this building. I was amazed at how much gold was used even in small detailing.
Although most of the building is well preserved there were a few pieces that were corroding with age. This is one of the many polls which are carved out of single piece of stone (bird included!). They have turned black over the course of 200years from incense smoke.
The rooftops were amazing! If you look really close there are hundreds of little people carved into the wood as well as the dragons.
This was one of my favorite rooms. The deity who is worshiped here protects children, so mothers often come here and bring bouquets of flowers.
This is the deity is the one Joey and his family come to most often. Since he is the deity of agriculture, the Changs ask him for a good peanut harvest.
If your jobs on the line, if your sick, or if anything bad is happening in your life you come to see this deity. Each year, people pay to have their name written on a little slip of paper and it is attached to one of the thousands of lights that line this room. I'm fairly sure it is done to protect them against misfortune.
Before we left Joey and Sue showed me how they burn paper money as an offering to the different deities. The different pieces of paper are for each of the deities, and adds to their wealth in the afterlife.
Yesterday, Joey's mom, Sue, took us to the Ba-oan Temple in Taipei. Dedicated to the God of Medicine, the Temple was built in 1830. Sue told us that the Baosheng Emperor had once been a renowned for his medical knowledge, and he was revered as a god after his death. 
When people come here they buy one of these bags filled with items they need for their prayers and offerings to the different deities. 
In the bag were these little red candles, we lit them up, made a wish and placed them on a little peg to burn down. It is like the opposite of a birthday candle :P. I forgot to make a wish though, oopes!
Next Joey lit the incense. It is the primary way of communication with the deities. When you hold the incense it allows you to basically talk to them through prayer. The incense made the place so smokey that I couldn't stop coughing.
After you are done talking to the deities, you place the incense in one of these big pots to keep burning. Like a penny you have wished on, it is basically the physical representation of what you have spoke to the deities about. 
Sue then showed us around the rest of the temple. Even though it was a gloomy and rainy day the temple was so beautiful! 
On a few of the walls there are these amazing murals illustrating some of the Buddhist stories. Sue said occasionally the repaint everything so the pictures don't fade away. 
Considering that every inch of the temple was carved and decorated, it must have taken forever to create this building. I was amazed at how much gold was used even in small detailing.
Although most of the building is well preserved there were a few pieces that were corroding with age. This is one of the many polls which are carved out of single piece of stone (bird included!). They have turned black over the course of 200years from incense smoke. 
The rooftops were amazing! If you look really close there are hundreds of little people carved into the wood as well as the dragons. 
This was one of my favorite rooms. The deity who is worshiped here protects children, so mothers often come here and bring bouquets of flowers.
This is the deity is the one Joey and his family come to most often. Since he is the deity of agriculture, the Changs ask him for a good peanut harvest. 
If your jobs on the line, if your sick, or if anything bad is happening in your life you come to see this deity. Each year, people pay to have their name written on a little slip of paper and it is attached to one of the thousands of lights that line this room. I'm fairly sure it is done to protect them against misfortune. 
Before we left Joey and Sue showed me how they burn paper money as an offering to the different deities. The different pieces of paper are for each of the deities, and adds to their wealth in the afterlife.
No comments:
Post a Comment