Shingon Buddhism Grotto Temple of Beitou, Buddhist grotto in Beitou District, Taiwan.
Shingon Buddhism Grotto Temple is a shrine carved directly into the mountainside near a waterfall, featuring stone reliefs of Buddhist deities carved throughout the rock. The complex includes a wooden water pavilion where visitors can perform traditional cleansing rituals.
The temple was established during the Taishō era by Shotaro Sano, who owned the nearby Hoshinoyu Hot Spring Bathhouse, bringing Japanese Buddhist practice to the region. After World War II, local additions like stone lions were incorporated into the site.
The temple honors Budong Mingwang, a Buddhist deity, through carved stone reliefs that blend Japanese and Taiwanese artistic traditions into the rock face. Walking through the site, you notice how these carvings merge two different cultural approaches to religious expression.
The temple sits within Yangmingshan National Park and is reached on foot through forest paths that can be slippery near the waterfall. Good walking shoes are essential, especially after rain when rocks and ground become wet and muddy.
Stone monuments labeled Orochi Myojin sit near the waterfall, referencing a figure from Japanese mythology and suggesting how beliefs were layered into the location. These markers offer a glimpse into the mixing of different religious traditions at the site.
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