I went to visit a temple over the weekend.
As an abbreviation of お寺様, お寺 can refer to a monk.
Every New Year I visit and pray at the nearby temple.
In the evening, the temple bell rings.
We held my grandfather's memorial service at the temple.
寺 is the plain, neutral word for a temple, while お寺 adds the honorific/polite prefix お and is preferred in everyday polite speech.
counter for temples
Polite form of 寺 (てら, 'temple') with the honorific prefix お. The monk sense is an abbreviation of お寺様.