Taoist Temple, Lahug Cebu City
The Taoist Temple of Cebu City is located within the wealthy suburb of Beverly Hills Lahug. Built in 1972 by Cebu’s Chinese community, it is considered as one of the oldest temples in Cebu. Though the temple was built as a center of worship for Taoism, it is open to the general public including non-Taoist worshipers. We went there last Saturday after our short but educational ‘trip’ to the Latter Day Saints’ new Temple in Lahug.
The Taoist temple has a lot of stairs so I was panting hard and soaking with sweat when I reached their prayer room, LOL. These stairs are actually used by Taoist devotees during their weekly ritual of climbing up the stairs while lighting joss sticks and then letting the monks read their fortune. In fact, at the gates of the temple you can see a sign that suggests visitors to meditate with every step while climbing up the stairs.
Just like any other Chinese temples around the world, the Taoist temple of Cebu is a great place for relaxation and meditation. The temple itself is like a garden with lush greens and beautiful landscapes. They also have a mini fish pond with a statue of a Chinese old man fishing.
Below is a picture of their prayer room. I only took a picture on the outside coz picture taking is naturally not allowed inside any prayer room. They actually have two prayer rooms this big, one of which is at the highest point of the temple.
They also have a lot of structures similar to that of Christianity’s grotto spread across the whole area of the Temple wherein devotees can light joss sticks and place some offerings in its altar.
There’s also a mini tower beside the prayer room which I thought is pretty cool though I don’t really know what it's a replica of, hehehe!
And of course, a Chinese temple wouldn’t be complete without its dragons :)
There are a lot of dragon statues all over the temple grounds and buildings but my favorite is the giant dragon by the replica of Great Wall of China. It’s so cool!
I’m not Chinese and I haven't seen a live dragon yet but I do believe they exist. I think they existed a long time ago in China and perhaps just gone extinct. What do you think? :)
