Dajia Jenn Lann Temple (大甲鎮瀾宮) is the Mazu temple in Dajia, in the north of Taichung near the coast. You can visit any day of the year: it opens before dawn and stays open late, and it is a short walk from the train station. Once a year, in spring, its Mazu sets out on the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage (大甲媽祖遶境進香), nine days and eight nights on foot to Chiayi County and back, and the town fills with people. Here is how to visit on an ordinary day, and how the pilgrimage works if you want to see it.
- Hours Daily 03:30 to 22:30
- Address No. 158, Shuntian Rd., Dajia District
- Getting there TRA Dajia Station on the coast line, then about 6 minutes on foot to the temple square
- Pilgrimage Every spring, in the third lunar month. The dates are drawn by divination at the temple on Lantern Festival night. The 2027 dates are not set yet.
Good to know: on an ordinary day the temple is calm and easy to visit. On the pilgrimage's departure and return days the streets around it are packed and closed to traffic, so come by train and give yourself hours, not minutes.
Visiting the temple
The temple traces its Mazu to a statue brought from Meizhou Island in Fujian around 1730. A small shrine went up on this spot in 1732 and was rebuilt and enlarged several times, taking the name Jenn Lann Temple along the way. The old halls were taken down in 1980, and the building you see now was completed in 1988. → Taichung's other temples worth the trip
Mazu sits in the main hall, with the halls of other gods around her: Guanyin, Shennong, the gods of the Southern and Northern Dipper, the Tai Sui hall, Ksitigarbha, and the goddess of childbirth among them. Two pieces the temple counts as its treasures are worth looking for:
- The jade Mazu (翡翠媽祖): about 130 cm tall and 1.5 tonnes of violet jadeite, donated through the Mazu ancestral temple on Meizhou Island and enshrined here in December 2011.
- The golden Mazu (黃金媽祖): about 276 kg of gold, cast in 2005 from tens of thousands of gold medallions that worshippers had given the temple. The city tourism site places it in the Mazu culture hall on the basement floor.
Temple manners
This is a working temple, busy with people praying from early morning. A few things make a visit go smoothly:
- Dress plainly and move quietly. Simple, comfortable clothes are fine; the temple asks visitors to respect the rituals and not to disturb or comment on people taking part.
- Step over the threshold, not on it. Treading on the raised sill of a temple door is seen as disrespectful.
- No smoking, no spitting, no litter. All three are seen as disrespectful, and the temple asks visitors to keep the grounds clean.
- Follow the staff. On busy days, do what the temple volunteers and staff ask.
For more on how Taiwanese temples work, from moon blocks to incense, temple culture on Inside Tainan is a good primer.
The Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage
The pilgrimage is the biggest event of the temple's year. Mazu's palanquin is carried on foot from Dajia to Fengtian Temple (奉天宮) in Xingang, Chiayi County, and back, with pilgrims walking behind it and crowds coming out to meet it in every town. The temple puts it at more than 300 km, through Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi, 21 districts and townships and around 100 temples. The Ministry of Culture listed it as an Important Folk Custom of Taiwan in 2010.
The route has changed over time. In the Qing era the temple sent pilgrims across the strait to Meizhou; when that stopped, Dajia's pilgrims went to Chaotian Temple in Beigang instead. In 1987 the temple went to Meizhou again, and since 1988 the pilgrimage has gone to Fengtian Temple in Xingang. It used to take eight days and seven nights; since 2010 it has taken nine days and eight nights.
How the dates are chosen
There is no fixed date. On Lantern Festival day, the 15th of the first lunar month, at 18:00 in the main hall, the temple brings out its Mazu statues and the chairman casts divination blocks (擲筊) to ask Mazu which day and hour to set out. The answer is announced that evening, and the pilgrimage always falls in the third lunar month, the month of Mazu's birthday. That is why nobody can tell you the next year's dates until mid-February at the earliest.
The ten rituals
The temple marks the pilgrimage with ten ceremonies, each held at a set place and time:
| Ritual | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Divination (筊筶) | Lantern Festival, 18:00 | Jenn Lann Temple |
| Raising the head flag (豎旗) | A day chosen by divination, at night | Jenn Lann Temple |
| Prayer for safety (祈安) | 15:00 the day before departure | Jenn Lann Temple |
| Mazu enters the palanquin (上轎) | 17:00 the day before departure | Jenn Lann Temple |
| Departure (起駕) | The hour chosen by divination | Jenn Lann Temple |
| Arrival (駐駕) | Evening of the third day | Fengtian Temple, Xingang |
| Blessing (祈福) | 05:00 the next morning | Fengtian Temple |
| Birthday ceremony (祝壽) | 08:00 the same morning | Fengtian Temple |
| Return ceremony (回駕) | That evening | Fengtian Temple |
| Homecoming (安座) | The last day, when Mazu is back in her hall | Jenn Lann Temple |
Three of them are the big public moments. The departure is the night the palanquin is lifted and carried out of Dajia, with bells, drums and horns, and a huge crowd in the streets. The birthday ceremony at Fengtian Temple is the high point of the whole journey: the temple's directors and the pilgrims kneel before Mazu, and it ends with a sea of raised flags. The homecoming is the return to Dajia on the last day, when the palanquin tours the town and Mazu is set back in her hall.
The 2026 pilgrimage
The 2026 pilgrimage set off on Friday 17 April (the first day of the third lunar month) at 22:05, as drawn by the blocks and announced by the temple. On the temple's published schedule, the nights went like this:
| Day | Date | Route | Night stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat 18 Apr | Dajia, Qingshui, Shalu, Dadu to Changhua City | Nanyao Temple (南瑤宮), Changhua |
| 2 | Sun 19 Apr | Changhua City, Yuanlin, Beidou, Xizhou to Xiluo | Fuxing Temple (福興宮), Xiluo |
| 3 | Mon 20 Apr | Xiluo, Huwei, Tuku, Yuanchang to Xingang | Fengtian Temple, Xingang (arrival) |
| 4 | Tue 21 Apr | Birthday ceremony 08:00; return ceremony in the evening | Leaves Xingang that night |
| 5 | Wed 22 Apr | Xingang, Tuku, Huwei to Xiluo | Fuxing Temple, Xiluo |
| 6 | Thu 23 Apr | Xiluo, Xizhou, Pitou, Tianzhong to Beidou | Dian'an Temple (奠安宮), Beidou |
| 7 | Fri 24 Apr | Beidou, Tianwei, Yuanlin, Huatan to Changhua City | Tianhou Temple (天后宮), Changhua |
| 8 | Sat 25 Apr | Changhua City, Dadu, Shalu to Qingshui | Chaoxing Temple (朝興宮), Qingshui |
| 9 | Sun 26 Apr | Qingshui, Waipu to Dajia; tour of Dajia from 15:00, then the homecoming | Home in Dajia |
The schedule is a plan, and crowds slow it down. In 2026 the palanquin reached Jenn Lann Temple in the early hours of Monday 27 April, more than two hours later than planned.
The 2027 pilgrimage
Not announced yet. The blocks will be cast on Lantern Festival day, which falls on 20 February 2027, and the temple posts the result on its website. Until then, any date you see for 2027 is a guess. → Taichung festivals and events by month
How to watch it
You do not need a ticket or a pass: the pilgrimage passes through public streets, and anyone can watch.
- The departure in Dajia. The most famous night. Arrive by train in the afternoon or early evening; the square in front of the temple fills hours before the palanquin leaves. In 2026 the Taichung Transportation Bureau ran three free shuttle routes on the departure and return days, and TRA added trains. Check the city and TRA announcements for the year you go.
- Along the route. Each town on the table above sees the procession pass, often in the middle of the night. If Dajia on departure night is too much, catch it as it passes through another town on the route. The temple's published schedule lists the planned time at each temple; expect delays.
- The homecoming in Dajia. The last afternoon and night, when the palanquin tours Dajia before Mazu returns to her hall. As busy as the departure.
- Walking a stretch. In 2026 the temple ran a sign-up for short walk-along sessions (隨香體驗), opening on 1 April, with places limited. Look for it on the temple's announcements page in spring.
Getting there on the big days: TRA Dajia Station is about 6 minutes on foot from the temple, and the city counted 26 bus routes passing near it, including 93, 97, 154 and 657. Roads around the temple close in stages, and some buses are rerouted. Carry an EasyCard or iPASS for the bus and train. → EasyCard and iPASS
Manners on the route
- Stay out of the procession. Watch from the side of the road, not the middle, and do what the staff on the route ask.
- Keep away from the firecrackers. They are set off as Mazu passes and can be loud and close.
- Crawling under the palanquin (鑽轎底). Many people kneel in a line on the road so the palanquin passes over them, as a blessing. If you join in, stay down, do not touch the palanquin, take your hat off and wear your bag on your front. People carrying a pilgrim's flag or wearing a temple charm do not crawl under it.
- Take your rubbish with you. The temple asks pilgrims and watchers to keep the route clean, and suggests bringing your own cup and cutlery.
→ The best time to visit Taichung · Taichung events this weekend and this month · Things to do
Sources
Dajia Jenn Lann Temple: temple history (1730 statue, 1732 shrine, 1980 rebuild, 1988 completion, Meizhou in 1987, the jade Mazu), origins of the pilgrimage (route history, date set by the chairman on Lantern Festival, the ten rituals), pilgrimage rituals (times and places of each ritual, eight days to nine days from 2010, 21 townships), pilgrim guide (flags, charms and crawling under the palanquin), 2026 departure date and time, 2026 schedule (route, night stops, ceremonies), 2026 walk-along sign-up, and its home page (golden Mazu, visitor manners, address). Taichung Tourism (hours and the culture hall). Taichung City Government (2026 shuttles, buses, extra trains and the walk from Dajia Station). Taichung City Cultural Heritage Office (Important Folk Custom, 2010). Focus Taiwan (2026 return). UDN (pilgrimage customs, including the threshold and crawling under the palanquin). Checked November 2026.