Millennium-old Buddha statues unearthed in ancient market
More than 680 fragments of Buddha statues and pagoda sculptures have been unearthed in the ruins of an ancient market in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province. The statues were discovered in a pit in the ruins of East Market, a…
Monks clean Zentsuji Temple’s Buddha statue ahead of New Year
In preparation for the New Year, monks at Zentsuji Temple in the city of Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture, conducted the annual tradition of brushing the dust off a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, or the “Medicine Buddha,” earlier this month. Enshrined as…
Thousands of Buddhist temples filled this sacred skyline
Entering a golden age a thousand years ago, Myanmar’s Bagan empire was home to dazzling structures that attracted pilgrims for centuries. ByJulius Purcell For centuries, visitors to a bend of the Ayeyarwady River in central Myanmar (Burma) have been greeted…
Buddhist statues get annual dust-down at World Heritage Horyuji temple in Nara (Japan)
IKARUGA, Nara — Buddhist statues at the World Heritage-registered Horyuji temple here were dusted down on Dec. 8 in an annual December cleanup to prepare for the coming year. Monks including head priest Shokaku Furuya held a ceremony at 10…
The History of Budai, the Laughing Buddha
You may wonder why the Buddha is so often depicted as chubby and laughing. The Laughing Buddha is understood as a particular Buddha who is not the Buddha who founded Buddhism. This particular Buddha is named Budai (sometimes spelled Pu-tai)…