Yunyang Temple is a very serene and beautiful place to visit. It has a big stone staircase leading to a main worship hall and there are a few other smaller halls for gatherings. The best part of the temple are the grounds and the garden. There is a large man made lake filled with water lilies, a stone bridge in the classical style, outdoor pavilions housing statues of Buddha, and a small manicured garden at the older end of the property.
We saw a peacock and some kangaroos when we there on the last visit. Yunyang Temple is only open on Sundays 9am to 2pm. If there were any special occasions like Wesak Day that falls on another day, they may also open for special ceremonies that require registrations of interest. Unlike other temples, they may not have a regular roster of volunteers or paid workers to watch over the temple and its 32 acres of land so that explains the limited opening hours.
A family of kangaroos enjoying the peaceful surroundings until we and another family interrupted their peaceful time. It was such an unexpected find, and is the first time we saw a kangaroo at the temple. I was looking at the flower beds when I looked up to see these kangaroos next to me in the next flower bed.
Plum trees in full bloom by the stair case leading to the main worship hall. These blossoms have a beautiful pink red colour but it is too bad that they can grow to be big trees which are unsuitable for my garden.
Large man made lake filled with water lilies with statue of Guan Yin and a stone bridge. It was a sunny day with a light breeze so it was perfect to walk around and admire the gardens.
An outdoor pavilion with a golden statue of Buddha. Sometimes, there are bowls placed nearby for donations. It would be very bad karma to steal from the donation bowls so coins remains in the bowls even though they are clear for everyone to see.
Water lilies of different colours live in the lake. This one is red, there are also some very large white/yellow ones nearby. Yesterday, I watched a re-run of I Live Alone where Park Narae went for a temple stay in South Korea and the nun who runs the cooking and meals brewed lotus flower tea for every participant. Interestingly, the tea was just a single lotus flower in water. The simplicity of temple food makes people appreciate the beauty of nature.
This temple is probably at the top of my list for picturesque temples, second to the Heavenly Queen Temple in Footscray which has a view of the Maribrynong River.
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