It took 10 years and donations of countless members of the Chung Tai Chan Buddhist community to complete this huge centre. Chung Tai Chan, Taiwan is an international branch of Buddhism founded by the Venerable Master Wei Chueh - the Master who is said to have revived the Zen tradition in Taiwan.
From the very day when the temple was set up, the Master wanted to build something that will appeal to the modern eye as well as the soul. At the Chung Tai Chan you can take a historical or cultural tour if that is your interest. In other words, the officials will help you to understand the statues, motifs and iconography as well as the art and engineering feats of the temple, as if in a museum. They will explain the 22 physical markings of the Buddha, why one holds a medicine ball in his hand while another holds a lotus, and why one sits on a white elephant with six tusks and another is so fat.
One of the chief objectives of Chung Tai Chan Monastery is to disseminate the principles of Zen Buddhism and it also seeks to uphold and give furtherance to Buddhist art and culture.
Chung Tai Chan houses more than 1000 Buddhist monks and nuns, and few hundred lay people. The monk and nuns pass their days in prayers to the God. The monastery is mainly made up of marbles and stone, thus revealing the stead fastness of the Buddhists. The principal structure of the temple towers over the surrounding buildings and the surrounding hills, this way it resembles a saint seated in deep meditation.
Chung Tai Chan can be equated to a mini society, with students pouring in from all over Taiwan to attend the boarding school within the monastery. There are tailors, mechanics, and carpenters to fill the essentials of a society.
The Chun Tai Chan temple entices all with its stunning presence.
