Nepal conducted a formal ceremony on Monday to inaugurate the newly restored Shree Napichandra Mahavihara, a fifth-century Buddhist shrine and monastery, popularly known as Duntu Bahi, in the historic city of Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley, some seven kilometers east of the capital city. Napichandra Mahavihara was severely damaged during the massive earthquakes that rocked […]

Discover mystical wonders beneath the Earth surface with our list of must-visit cave temples worldwide, each a testament to history and spirituality. 1/8 Image: Shutterstock Phraya Nakhon Cave, among the world’s most photographed temples, is a boat ride away. Its natural light reveals mesmerising beauty, enchanting all who visit. 2/8 Image: Shutterstock Situated on a limestone […]

Gyeongju, South Korea A monumental statue of the Buddha sits on the slopes of Mount Toham, looking out to sea. It is the heart of Seokguram Grotto, a Buddhist temple built in the 8th century. Kim Dae-Seong, a Prime Minister of the Silla Dynasty initiated and supervised the construction of both a temple and a grotto at Mount […]

Looking for a remote destination in central China? Look no further than the grottoes at Bingling Temple in the country’s north-central Gansu Province. Massive crowds are a common feature of many attractions throughout China: This is a good spot to escape the crowds. The temple is tucked away in a little-traveled, remote corner of the country.  […]

The shrine comes from Alice S. Kandell, who amassed one of the most significant private collections of Tibetan Buddhist art in North America For decades, a mesmerising shrine of Tibetan Buddhist artefacts has been tucked away in a private home on New York’s Upper East Side. This month, the contents of the shrine, more than […]

Buddha Shakyamuni, 9th century, Sri Lanka,Gift of Joan Palevsky and the Museum Acquisition Fund (M.76.46)South and Southeast Asian Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) When most of us think of Buddhism, we likely won’t immediately think of it as “a teaching of images,” and yet, in the early period of the transmission of […]

The Wood Buddha Statue Museum is located at Ji Xin Monastery in Zushan Scenic Area of Qinghuang dao City. With a history dating back to the Song dynasty (960-1279), the temple nestles half way up the mountain, overlooking the city and Bohai Sea like a hermit. As a major tourist spot of Zushan Scenic Area, […]

Sri Lanka’s Festival of the Tooth is possibly the oldest Buddhist festival in Asia. Indeed, elements of the festival, called Esala Perahera, probably pre-date Buddhism’s arrival in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE. Esala Perahera roughly translates into “procession of the eighth lunar month,” and following a lunar calendar the festival usually happens in […]

NARA–UNESCO World Heritage Todaiji temple was filled with the heavenly sight of flying white-robed priests vigorously dusting the towering Great Buddha statue ahead of the Obon holidays.    Around 170 priests and staff participated on Aug. 7 in an annual cleaning called “Ominugui” (literally, “wiping bodies”), removing a year’s worth of dust from the 15-meter-tall statue, […]