A scenic and historic cave temple in Keelung, originally founded in 1872 as Daiming Temple (代明宮) and dedicated to Shakyamuni Buddha and Guanyin. In 1906 the Buddhist images were removed and the cave was repurposed as a shrine to Benzaiten, one of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods. It was given the names Kirun Sendō Benten-gū (基隆仙洞辯天宮) and Saishō-ji (最勝寺), the latter the source of the temple’s current Mandarin Chinese name. The myōjin-style torii and stone lanterns were eventually dismantled, but the original Benzaiten statue is still enshrined inside the cave alongside many other antiques. Commonly referred to as the Fairy Cave Temple in English, although the meaning of the character is closer to “Immortal”.
Map
Recorded On
Links
- Wild Land Travel (-地球上的火星人-下巴 (野地旅))
Sources
- Taiwan Shinto Shrines App, Kuona Lab. 《台灣神社遺構地圖》
Themes
- Japanese Colonial Era Taiwan (台灣日治時代)
- Temple Culture in Taiwan (台灣的寺廟文化)
- Shinto Shrines in Taiwan (台灣神社)
Nearby Locations
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Author
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I am a web application developer, photojournalist, urban explorer, and history enthusiast passionate about the open web and documenting my experiences on this planet. This project was founded in the early 2010s and has evolved into a sort of personal Wikipedia of places that interest me (and often the photographs I’ve taken there). I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, but spend most of my time residing in Taiwan.