Dajia Jenn Lann Temple

Dajia Jenn Lann Temple is a Mazu temple in Dajia, Taichung, and one of the principal centers of faith in Taiwan. By tradition its origins trace to a Meizhou Mazu statue brought to the area around 1730 with a small shrine established two years later. It was rebuilt as a Tianhou Temple in 1770, which was then enlarged and renamed Jenn Lann Temple in 1787. The present complex dates largely to a reconstruction completed in 1988.

The temple is best known for the annual Dajia Mazu pilgrimage, a nine-day procession that carries the goddess’s palanquin on a round trip of more than 300 kilometres through some twenty-one townships in Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, and Chiayi, passing nearly a hundred temples on the way. Its destination has shifted over time: an early custom of returning to Meizhou transitioned to rites at Beigang Chaotian Temple during the Japanese colonial era after the closure of Da’an Port. Since 1988 the procession has instead visited Fengtian Temple in Xingang. The pilgrimage was designated an intangible cultural heritage of national importance in 2008.