Detailed Introduction
Lighting beacon lamps is one of the most popular blessings in Taiwanese temples, with long queues forming every year before Lunar New Year.
**Significance**: Each person is believed to have a corresponding star in heaven. When that star dims, fortune declines. Lighting a beacon lamp symbolizes brightening your star, illuminating the path ahead and dispelling darkness.
**Types**: Beacon Lamp (general safety), Tai Sui Lamp (for those in conflict with the year's Tai Sui star), Wealth Lamp (financial success), Wenchang Lamp (academic success, popular with students), Marriage Lamp (finding love), and Medicine Buddha Lamp (health and healing).
**Registration**: Open from the 12th to 1st lunar month. Provide your name, birth date (lunar calendar), and address. Costs range from a few hundred to several thousand NTD. Popular temples sell out well before New Year.
**Notes**: Lighting a lamp doesn't guarantee success — personal effort is still essential. The folk saying 'Accumulating virtue beats lighting lamps' reminds believers that good deeds are the true foundation. If a lamp goes out during the year, the temple will relight it.