20 of the world’s most beautiful Buddhist temples
Published 14 Jun 2019, 16:57 BST
Bangkok's Wat Benchamabophit Temple was completed in 1911 and built entirely out of imported Italian Carrara marble. Arched, stained glass windows depict Thai theppanom, or angels. The temple’s gallery features 52 Buddha statues on individual pillars, which exhibit the diversity of Buddha icons from different times and places.
Photograph by Noppasin Wongchum, AlamyThe once-royal capital of Bagan was originally home to an estimated 10,000 Buddhist structures. Today, dusty footpaths weave around more than 2,000 remaining temples and pagodas, from Dhammayangyi, Bagan’s largest, to Shwezigon, the first gold-plated temple in Myanmar.
Photograph by Jon Bower Myanmar, AlamyA stone’s throw from the tallest waterfall in Japan, Seiganto-ji is a forest-fringed sanctuary for Tendai, a rationalist school of Buddhism that believes in an ever-changing existence. Seiganto-ji is also a stop on two different pilgrimage routes: the 33-temple Saigoku trail, and the ancient Kumano Kodō, one of only two UNESCO-designated pilgrimage trails in the world.
Photograph by Image Broker, AlamyFounded in 1997, northern Thailand’s all-white Wat Rong Khun temple was designed and funded entirely by Thai painter Chalermchai Kositpipat. Mirror mosaics cover the facades, and depictions of Spider Man, Michael Jackson, and Hello Kitty decorate the main temple’s colorful interior. Despite its contemporary flair, visitors are expected to dress and behave with traditional reverence.
Photograph by Amnat, AlamyParo Taktsang in Bhutan’s Paro Valley is a cliffside temple that can only be reached by a semi-steep hike past waterfalls, prayer wheels, and a Tibetan teahouse with a view. Padmasambhava, the guru responsible for bringing Buddhism to Bhutan, is said to have meditated for three years in the caves of Paro Taktsang after flying there on the back of a magical female tiger, hence the nickname “Tiger’s Nest.”
Photograph by Ira Block, Nat Geo Image CollectionBurmese King Anawrahta began incorporating nat (ancient spirit) worship into Buddhist temples and practices in the 11th century. Thirty-seven nat statues, depicted in their human forms, stand at the base of the 777 steps that lead to the doors of Taung Kalat, a small temple dramatically perched on the peak of a 557-foot-high volcanic plug in central Myanmar.
Photograph by Rodolfo Contreras, AlamyThe sacred site of Laotian coronations and New Year’s festivals, Wat Xieng Thong’s name can be translated to the “golden city,” or “flame tree.” Elegantly situated above the Mekong River, the wat’s rear wall sparkles with a colorful mosaic of the thong, or tree of life. Dramatic Luang Prabang-style rooftops end in an upward swoop to catch evil spirits.
Photograph by Markus Kirchgessner, Laif, ReduxRed wishes dangle from ceiling-strung incense throughout Hong Kong’s Buddhist and Taoist Man Mo Temple, which was built in 1847 to honor the god of literature (Man) and the god of war (Mo). Beyond burning their wishes up to the gods, visitors can also shake tubes of bamboo sticks and have their future told by the temple's fortune tellers.
Photograph by Design Pics Inc, Nat Geo Image CollectionSixth-century Trấn Quốc Pagoda floats on a tiny island in Hanoi’s West Lake. The temple’s 11-story red pagoda is topped by a nine-story gemstone lotus. Gold and bronze statues clutter altars throughout the temple, and three different female Buddhas, called “Mothers,” can be found in Trấn Quốc’s front courtyard.
Photograph by Gekko Studios, AlamySince its founding more than one thousand years ago, India’s Kye Gompa has been attacked every century—by armies, fires, and a 1975 earthquake. Nestled in the Himalayas at 13,668 feet above sea level, the mural-rich temple is an example of layered “fort-monastery” Pasada architecture. Foreigners are often hosted for spiritual retreats.
Photograph by Neil McAllister, AlamyForty-five minutes east of Ho Chi Minh City, riverside Bửu Long Pagoda features carved dragons that curve down the temple stairs and a turquoise pool reflects the temple’s white walls and golden spires. The pagoda’s ultimate Gotama Cetiya Stupa houses famous relics, including śarīra, tiny beads of pearl and crystal that are said to appear in the cremated remains of the most enlightened Buddhist teachers.
Photograph by Thoai Pham, AlamyMahabodhi Temple is one of the holiest sites of Buddhist pilgrimage, dating back more than 2,000 years. A giant Bodhi tree west of the main temple is said to be a direct descendant in the very same spot of the original tree where Buddha reached enlightenment. Stone petals mark the path where lotuses were said to have bloomed beneath Buddha’s feet as he paced and meditated.
Photograph by Hakbong Kwon, AlamyBuilt entirely without nails for the centennial celebration of Hawaii’s first Japanese immigrants, Byodo-In Temple, in O’ahu’s Valley of the Temples, is a replica of the original Byodo-In Temple in Kyoto. Inside, a golden Amida Buddha rises more than nine feet tall. Peacocks, black swans, and turtles roam the temple grounds, and surrounding garden ponds swarm with large schools of koi, some nearly one hundred years old.
Photograph by Robert Harding Picture Library, Nat Geo Image CollectionAngkor Wat is the largest religious structure ever built. Originally dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, the Cambodian people rededicated the sandstone temple to Theravada Buddhism near the end of the 12th century. Sprawling across 401 acres, Angkor was once a megacity visited by pilgrims from all over the world.
Photograph by Jan Wlodarczyk, AlamyNestled in a lush garden haven between the Bukansan mountain range and Seoul’s glassy skyscrapers, the Joseon-dynasty Gyeongbokgung Palace was once comprised of more than 500 buildings. Many domestic spaces, banquets pavilion, temples, shrines, lotus ponds, and gardens remain today. Chimneys above the palace release smoke from ondol, advanced underfloor heating systems that have been around for thousands of years.
Photograph by Chris Putnam, AlamyRussia is home to roughly 1.5 million practicing Buddhists, and St. Petersburg hosts the Datsan Gunzechoinei, one of the world’s northernmost Buddhist temples. While today it is a place of worship, throughout its history, the temple has been used for military communications, sports, and zoology research. Features range from traditional Tibetan prayer wheels to art nouveau details and stained glass windows designed by famous Russian mystic Nicholas Roerich.
Photograph by Natalya Erofeeva, AlamySet amidst nomadic shepherds, yak farmers, and the largest natural wetland in Bhutan, Gangtey Monastery is one of Bhutan’s two central Nyingmapa-school monasteries. Each November, locals gather in the temple courtyard to dance in black and white crane costumes, welcoming migrating black-necked cranes for the winter. The mythical Garuda bird, a Buddhist symbol of intelligence, is carved into the temple’s outer corners.
Photograph by Robert Harding, AlamyHome to hundreds of chanting monks and foreign meditation students, Kopan Monastery is situated 3.5 miles northeast of Kathmandu on a hilltop that once belonged to a royal Nepalese astrologer. The monastery’s central meditation hall is vibrantly painted, each color providing a different focus—from the yellow ceiling (rootedness) to the red pillars (life force and preservation).
Photograph by Ramon Portelli, AlamyCentral Java’s Borobudur temple complex is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, featuring 3,000 bas-relief sculptures, 72 latticed stupas, and 504 Buddha statues, all arranged in the shape of a lotus against the backdrop of the Menoreh Mountains. The nine-level climb from Borobudur’s eastern stairway to its final stupa measures roughly three miles.
Photograph by Leonid Serebrennikov, Alamy
The “heavenly queen,” Thean Hou Temple, peers over Kuala Lumpur beneath the shade of a sacred Bodhi, the same type of tree under which the Buddha was said to reach enlightenment. Thean Hou is perhaps most impressive at dusk during Chinese New Year when thousands of illuminated red lanterns are strung outward from the temple eaves.
Photograph by Emile Luider, Rea, Redux