Taiwan travels: Jiantan (Sword Lake) Ancient Temple
I did not have time for a serious hike over the weekend, but I managed to squeeze in a pleasurable visit to Jiantan (Sword Lake) Ancient Temple (劍潭古寺) in the Taipei suburb of Neihu.
The temple’s name is said to have come from the nearby Jiantan Mountain, where the pond waters were as clear as a sharp sword. Another more fanciful legend traces the name back to a time when Koxinga (1624–1662), who defeated the Dutch at Anping Fort and established Chinese rule over Taiwan, killed a wicked water sprite that had been drowning local people by stirring up the waves of the lake it inhabited with a jeweled sword.
According to local government records, the temple was not built until 1773, over a hundred years after the death of Koxinga. The records also note that a plaque at the temple recounts a story in which a monk called Wanhua came across a snake blocking the road while traveling through the area and, deeming this to be an auspicious incident, ordered a temple to be built on the spot.
During the latter part of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895 to 1945), the temple was moved to its present location and features a beautiful statue of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, under its graceful eaves as well as figures of other Daoist and Buddhist deities.
The Jiantan Ancient Temple is only a five-minute walk from the (eponymous) Jiantan MRT station. On the green hillside behind the temple is a butterfly sanctuary that is also worth taking a stroll around if you are in the vicinity. All in all, a pleasant place to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon in.
