The discovery of Ghwandai Top in Swat, Pakistan, is being hailed as one of South Asia’s most significant archaeological finds. Located near Barikot, this hilltop site reveals a remarkable layering of civilisations—from Vedic and Indo-Greek to Buddhist, Brahmanical, and early Islamic periods. Excavated over four years by the Italian Archaeological Mission and local authorities, the site includes ancient fortifications, stupas, temples, and urban structures that reflect Swat Valley’s role as a spiritual and political crossroads for millennia.

Historically known as Vajirasthana, or “fortress of the vajra,” the site is steeped in mythological and religious symbolism. It was revered in Vedic tradition as a symbol of Indra’s thunderbolt and later became central to Buddhist narratives involving Vajrapāṇi. During the Kushan era, it flourished as a Buddhist centre before being transformed into a Brahmanical stronghold under the Turk Shāhi rulers. Even during the Ghaznavid period, traces of its spiritual past endured.

Today, Ghwandai Top is poised to become a global heritage tourism destination. Its sacred architecture—ranging from stupas and Hindu temples to early mosques—offers a rare opportunity for interfaith pilgrimage and cultural exploration. Scholars and activists see it as a “cultural bridge” that celebrates shared histories and fosters mutual understanding.

To unlock its full potential, experts call for improved infrastructure, multilingual visitor centres, and sustainable tourism development. With growing international interest and support from initiatives like the World Bank’s KITE project, Ghwandai Top may soon stand alongside the world’s most iconic archaeological sites as a beacon of South Asia’s pluralistic past and enduring legacy.

---

This sculpture was made with rock, robotics and time. Its beauty stuns.

Barry X Ball’s “Buddha” took years to make with the help of a studio team and a robot. It’s timeless.

This Buddha — its head and shoulders the color of translucent flames, its torso pockmarked by wounds, its robes a rich burgundy — is the manifestation of an idea of art that’s both dazzlingly new and profoundly ancient. If you’ve not seen anything quite like it — well, neither have I. (It’s on show at the Mario Diacono Gallery in Boston until July 5.)

“Buddha,” by Barry X Ball, is familiar only to the extent that it follows a type recognizable from Mahayana Buddhism. It’s modeled after a 15th- or 16th-century seated Buddha from Japan, in lacquer and gilt wood. The Amitābha, as this type is called, expresses “measureless life” (a function of infinite compassion), bliss and a harmonizing force that radiates throughout the cosmos.

Ball’s version is the result of years of intricate, painstaking hands-on processes and sophisticated new ones, among them digital modeling, 3D printing and robot milling.

What makes it so distinctive — so deliriously beautiful — are the materials. The figure of the Buddha is made from three types of stone. The lower section is rouge du roi, a marble found in France. The middle section is an onyx from El Marmol in Baja California, Mexico; cut away this stone’s golden and cakey skin and you’re left with a smooth, swirling expanse of white marble with pink striations, pockmarked by cavities, or “wounds,” the color of chocolate. The resplendent top section is golden honeycomb calcite, mined from a quarry in the mountains east of Park City, Utah.

The sculpture’s lotus-shaped base is no less seductive. It’s carved from a translucent pink onyx from Iran, purchased at Carrara in Italy, where Michelangelo got his marble and where today, up and down the coast road, markets display both locally quarried marble and stone transported from around the world.

Ball has been at the technological forefront of stone sculpture for decades. He has a big studio in Brooklyn and employs a team of assistants.

To make “Buddha,” they created a digital scan of the original Japanese Buddha, modeled it using a computer program, then used a 3D printer to make a full-size copy. Although the form of the lotus base was more freely invented, it was rendered and printed by a similar process.

Once sourced, the slabs of stone were assembled, cut in profile, then carved into its present shape by a robot, milling under a stream of cooling water. The “rough” milling produced a sculpture divided horizontally in three separate segments.

What followed was countless hours of handcrafted finessing, using an array of tools and trompe l’oeil techniques, with the aim of making the three different stones seem to blend organically into one. To create this semblance of “continuity,” chocolate-colored cavities and swirls of pink and brown were created in stone where they don’t naturally occur. A similar process was used for the pink lotus base. A natural-looking but, in fact, artificial ring of “wounds” was introduced to its upper echelon, rhyming with the cavities in the Buddha’s body.

Once the sculpture’s two parts — base and body — were assembled, the stone was smoothed and polished, then impregnated with resin. At the end of this multiyear process, voilà! — the extraordinarily vivid creation you see reproduced here.

Ball’s use of technology interests and impresses me, as does his studio system and the illusionistic, handcrafted detailing. Neither artists nor Buddhists, you’re reminded, are obliged to cut themselves off from technology. (I would love one day to see Ball’s “Buddha” placed in the same room as Nam June Paik’s “TV Buddha.”) Sculptors, as Ball likes to point out, have long competed to use the very latest technologies and to that extent, he’s merely following tradition.

But all these are talking points. This Buddha is so uncannily familiar and yet so strikingly original that it transcends “issues” and silences skeptics. To me, it suggests deep paradoxes at the heart of existence — paradoxes that feel as germane today as in the Buddha’s lifetime: Stasis and unstoppable change. Reality and illusion. Desire and nothingness.

The statue “Fasting Buddha” is displayed at the Lahore Museum in Lahore, Pakistan. (Korea Heritage Agency)

By Kang Gahui

The Korea Heritage Service and the Korea Heritage Agency (KHA) on June 20 said that using 3D digital technology, they recorded the famous statue “Fasting Buddha” displayed at the Lahore Museum in Lahore, Pakistan.

The artwork is a realistic depiction of Buddha, with his ribs exposed after six years of ascetic living. Visitors from all over the world view it every year as a leading Buddhist artifact of Pakistan.

The archival work is part of a project launched in 2021 by both organizations to help Pakistan promote its Gandhara culture and develop related tourism resources, with permission from the museum.

Such digitization will also be applied to immersive content at the digital exhibition hall of the Islamabad Museum in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The KHA also helped raise Pakistan’s digitization capacity through training of Lahore Museum staff in 3D scanning technology.

A scene from the ongoing “Meet Yungang: A Public Digital Art Exhibition” in Hong Kong. (Photo courtesy of the Yungang Research Institute)

A digital art exhibition in Hong Kong featuring 3D-printed Buddha statues has received widespread praise from visitors.

The “Meet Yungang: A Public Digital Art Exhibition,” organized by the Yungang Research Institute in Datong, north China’s Shanxi Province, highlights four life-sized replicas created using advanced printing technology, according to institute representative Zhou Yuchao.

The Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back more than 1,500 years, recently received Shanxi’s first data intellectual property registration certificate, reflecting its ongoing digital preservation efforts.

A scene of the ongoing “Meet Yungang: A Public Digital Art Exhibition” in Hong Kong. (Photo courtesy of the Yungang Research Institute)

Li Lihong, a digital protection specialist at the institute, said extensive data support is essential for safeguarding the immovable relics.

Li, a graduate of Taiyuan University of Technology, said technological advances are reshaping approaches to cultural preservation.

“In the early days, three-dimensional cave models lacked texture information, requiring manual alignment of data models with actual photographs,” Li said.

Sophisticated data collection equipment and advanced modeling software have significantly streamlined the preservation process, Li said.

Photo shows a view of the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, north China’s Shanxi Province. (People’s Daily Online/Lu Pengyu)

“We simply input the collected information into the model, and it automatically generates colorized models with higher precision and speed,” she said.

Li noted that while mapping a single cave used to take three to six months, the process now requires only two to three months.

The acceleration follows the completion of a computing center of the digital protection center of Yungang Research Institute, China’s first advanced computing center for cultural preservation in 2019.

“Data collection, storage and application all require support from the computing center,” Li said.

The center has completed data collection for 80 percent of the Yungang Grottoes, most of it within the past five years. Precision has improved from 1 centimeter to 1 millimeter, and now to 0.03 millimeters, creating 8K-resolution digital archives.

Digital technology not only enables permanent preservation of cultural artifacts but also makes them accessible to wider audiences.

A resident in Hong Kong tries an augmented reality device to experience the Yungang Grottoes. (Photo courtesy of the Yungang Research Institute)

Zhou, who has focused on Yungang Grottoes exhibitions in recent years, said high-precision 3D-printed displays allow visitors to experience texture and detail, overcoming the traditional barriers that prevent direct interaction with physical relics.

The Yungang Grottoes use a modular assembly method to create life-size 3D replicas. These can be taken apart and moved easily, helping the grottoes share their art with people around the world.

Digital technology goes beyond making physical copies. By using new digital tools like virtual reality and mixed reality, the Yungang Grottoes are making it easier for people to experience relics online.

Replicas of the Yungang Grottoes are now appearing in an increasing number of locations. The world’s first large-scale 3D-printed replica of Cave No. 3 is on display at City Media Plaza in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province.

A visitor observes a replica of a Buddha statue from the Yungang Grottoes. (People’s Daily Online/Ma Mengdi)

Similar replicas can be found at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, as well as in museums in Shenzhen and art galleries in Shanghai. These digital initiatives are helping to bring ancient Buddhist art to contemporary audiences both in China and globally.

One abandoned Buffalo church sold for just $250,000 and transformed into something completely unexpected – revealing a revolutionary model that could reshape America’s religious landscape forever. This isn’t just another story about urban decay; it’s about how demographic shifts are quietly rewriting the spiritual map of entire communities.

The conversion of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church into a Vietnamese Buddhist temple represents more than architectural change. Built in 1883 and consecrated in 1905, this sacred space served Catholic families for over a century before closing in 2007 due to declining attendance and population shifts.

Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Minh Tuyen purchased the property in 2009, spending two years carefully transforming the interior while preserving its essential character. The result? A faith-to-faith conversion that maintained the building’s spiritual purpose while adapting to Buffalo’s evolving demographics.
How one purchase changed everything about community worship

The transformation required surgical precision. Original Catholic elements – altars, crucifixes, Stations of the Cross – were respectfully removed and replaced with three 2,000-pound Buddha statues representing Amitabha, Sakyamuni, and Medicine Buddha. Yet the building retained its wooden trusses, partial stained-glass windows, and even some original pews.

This hybrid approach created something unprecedented: a Buddhist temple that honors its Catholic heritage while serving a growing Vietnamese immigrant community. The temple offers both floor meditation carpets and traditional pews, accommodating different physical needs and cultural preferences.

Similar to how small town governance and community dynamics require creative adaptation, religious institutions must evolve with changing populations or risk abandonment.
The $250,000 investment that preserved history

Unlike Buffalo’s Queen of Peace Church conversion to Jami Masjid, where Catholic murals were painted over entirely, St. Agnes maintained significant architectural integrity. This preservation strategy proved crucial for community acceptance, even though some vandalism occurred post-conversion.

The financial model demonstrates remarkable efficiency. At $250,000 plus undisclosed renovation costs, the temple preserved a historic structure while creating a sustainable worship space for generations. Compare this to demolition costs and lost heritage – the economic logic becomes compelling.
Why this model could transform declining religious communities

Buffalo’s experience mirrors national trends. As Christian church attendance declines and immigrant populations grow, faith-to-faith conversions offer a win-win solution. The Buffalo Diocese’s willingness to sell to non-Christian groups created flexibility that prevented building abandonment.

Three key factors enabled success: transparent diocesan policies, community engagement, and architectural sensitivity. The temple’s leaders understood that preserving familiar elements would ease neighborhood concerns while maintaining the building’s sacred character.

Just as unique approaches to municipal survival require creative thinking, religious institutions need innovative strategies for changing demographics.
The unexpected community response

Despite initial sadness over losing their Catholic church, most neighbors preferred an active temple over vacancy. This acceptance suggests Americans increasingly value maintained religious spaces regardless of specific faith traditions.

However, vandalism incidents highlight ongoing tensions. Successful conversions require proactive community engagement, cultural events, and dialogue between old and new religious communities.
Three strategies for replicating this success elsewhere

Religious institutions facing similar challenges can learn from St. Agnes’s approach. First, preserve architectural heritage while adapting interior spaces. This balance honors history while meeting new community needs.

Second, engage surrounding neighborhoods early and transparently. Share renovation plans, invite community input, and host interfaith events. Building trust prevents resistance and creates long-term community harmony.

Third, choose buyers committed to continued religious use. Unlike commercial conversions, faith-to-faith transitions maintain the building’s spiritual purpose and community significance.

Cities experiencing demographic shifts could learn from creative solutions for declining populations by encouraging adaptive reuse policies and tax incentives for religious preservation projects.
What this means for America’s religious future

The St. Agnes conversion represents more than one building’s transformation – it’s a blueprint for religious evolution in post-industrial America. As traditional congregations shrink and immigrant communities grow, faith-to-faith conversions offer sustainable solutions that preserve heritage while serving new populations.

This model challenges assumptions about religious buildings serving single faith traditions forever. Instead, it suggests that sacred spaces can transcend denominational boundaries while main

NEW DELHI: Recent excavations undertaken at the Tejpur Deora Stupa, also known as ‘Kesariya Stupa’, have exposed the true extent of the architecturally-imposing structure in Bihar’s East Champaran. A team of archeologists have observed existence of an additional terrace below the present ground level, suggesting, the structure is even grander than previously believed.

According to officials, several trenches were made on the eastern slope and terraces of the Buddhist structure, which has also revealed architectural features such as brick walls, open drains, and rammed floors.

“Excavations at the northwest of the main Stupa revealed part of the outer brick circumambulatory path, running from north to the south and taking a crescent shape. Some sections of the path are partially missing,” officials said.

The revelation of an additional earlier-unknown level of the Stupa was recently announced by the ASI on ‘X’.

Construction of the Stupa began in the three century BCE. The site was earlier systematically excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1998. Excavations were also conducted in 2018-2019 and then, after a gap of few years, once again resumed in 2024.

Before the 1934 earthquake in Bihar, the height of Kesariya Stupa was 123 feet. According to ASI reports, when Buddhism thrived in India, the Stupa was around 150 feet. Presently, it stands at 104 feet.

“Currently, the Stupa stands with six visible terraces above ground. Each terrace contains a series of cells, and the structure is surmounted by a cylindrical drum composed of solid brickwork. Recent excavations suggest the existence of an additional terrace below the present ground level, which would increase the estimated dimensions of the Stupa,” read the post by the ASI.

Officials said red-colour ware shards and bone fragments have been found near the open drains. The rammed floor comprises ‘brick jelly top’ and ‘kankar’ granules at the bottom. It was plastered with lime and rested over a brick paved floor, officials shared.

“Two cells containing partial stucco Buddha images were uncovered on the third terrace, along with paved brick areas. The cell on the northern corner had the lower portion of a seated Buddha image in stucco placed along the central wall. The central cell had a small seated image of Buddha in stucco (only lower part) along its right wall,” officials said.

Lord Budhha, on his last journey, spent atop Kesaria, where he made sensational announcements, which were later on recorded in the Jataka tales (collection of Buddhist myths detailing past lives of the Buddha).

‘May prove earlier assumptions incorrect’

Before the 1934 earthquake in Bihar, the height of Kesariya Stupa was 123 feet. According to ASI, when Buddhism thrived in India, the Stupa was around 150 feet. Presently, it stands at 104 feet. “Recent excavations suggest the existence of an additional terrace below the present ground level, which would increase estimated dimensions of the Stupa,” ASI said.

The Rubin Museum of Art’s popular installation, the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, reopened to the public at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City on 11 June. The move follows the Rubin’s closure of its Manhattan space in October 2024 and represents a new chapter in its evolution as a “global museum” without a fixed location. The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, which has attracted more than a million visitors since its debut in 2013, will remain at the Brooklyn Museum for a six-year residency until 2031.

The installation’s reopening took place on Saga Dawa Duchen, one of the most sacred days in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, marking the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing into parinirvana.

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room is now housed in the Arts of Asia Galleries on the Brooklyn Museum’s second floor, occupying 37 square meters. It was reconstructed using the original’s wooden posts, ceiling beams, and transparent glass doors. The intention, according to curators, was to preserve both the architectural integrity and spiritual ambiance of the original shrine room.

The Brooklyn Museum’s senior curator of Asian art, Joan Cummins, said: “We didn’t want the Shrine Room to be a thoroughfare,” referring to the space’s separation from the rest of the museum and city around it. (The New York Times)

Visitors can encounter more than 100 Tibetan Buddhist artifacts spanning nine centuries, including thangkas, silver offering bowls, ritual instruments, and statues of deities. Among the most notable of the items is a 19th-century bejeweled image of the goddess Ushnishavijaya, associated with long life, and a 20th-century statue of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug tradition.

Curators have taken care to maintain as many elements of the original installation as possible. The room is infused with the scent of incense and the sound of recorded chants from Buddhist monks and nuns. Small stools are provided to encourage visitors to sit, reflect, and use the space as a site for meditation or quiet contemplation.

Senior curator of Himalayan art at the Rubin, and the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room’s curator, Elena Pakhoutova, recalled the devotion of frequent visitors: “There was one woman in particular who would come every day when the museum was open,” she said. “That was her practice.” (The New York Times)

The Rubin Museum of Art, which opened in 2004, has been a key institution for the public display and interpretation of Himalayan and Buddhist art in the United States. With the closure of its Manhattan building, the museum retained its collection and shifted its operations to lending works and curating traveling exhibitions. Now named the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, the institution aims to expand access to its holdings.

According to executive director Jorrit Britschgi, preserving the immersive quality of the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room was a high priority: “Standing in front of objects in something that was reminiscent of their original context is a very, very powerful experience,” he said. (The New York Times)

The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room installation at the Brooklyn Museum includes a digital touchscreen just outside the space, offering visitors interactive access to object descriptions and historical information. No labels are used inside the room itself to maintain the immersive experience.

Due to space limitations, the shrine room’s original set of richly painted Wrathful Shrine Doors from eastern Tibet, dated to the 19th century and depicting the fierce deity Mahakala, are displayed just outside the room. Mahakala is revered in Tibetan Buddhism as a protector of the Dharma.

The installation continues a curatorial practice initiated at the Rubin: rotating the objects every two years to reflect each of Tibetan Buddhism’s four main traditions. At the time of the Rubin’s closure, the room highlighted the Kagyu tradition. The current version features the Gelug tradition, following its emphasis on scholasticism and philosophical inquiry.

Many of the artifacts on display now have not been seen publicly since 2015, including a silk brocade thangka of the female buddha Tara, believed to offer aid in overcoming worldly concerns such as illness and fear.

“She tends to be someone that you pray to for sort of worldly worries, long life, health,” Cummins noted. (The New York Times)

New York City is home to a growing number of Buddhist communities, with an estimated 1–2 per cent of residents identifying as Buddhist according to Pew Research Center data. The Brooklyn Museum, known for its inclusive programming and accessible “pay-what-you-wish” admission policy, offers a fitting venue for the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room’s next life.

“It is transporting,” Cummins said of the installation. “It’s like stepping into Tibet for a moment.” (The New York Times)

A compassionate goddess featuring primarily in the Buddhist pantheon, where she is also regarded as a bodhisattva, Tara has been conceptualised in various forms, both benign and fierce. Also venerated in Hinduism, particularly among Shakti worshippers, she numbers as one of the Mahavidyas, the ten manifestations of Maha Devi or the Great Goddess.

In Buddhism, Tara is popularly worshipped in the Mahayana and Vajrayana sects and is considered a saviour who bestows longevity and good health on her followers and guides them towards enlightenment. In the Mahayana tradition, she is closely associated with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and is sometimes referred to as his consort. In the Vajrayana tradition, she is worshipped as the mother of all Buddhas and a Buddha herself, taking the role of a meditation deity. As the focus of meditative contemplation, she often appears in her fierce form.

In paintings and sculpture, Tara is typically depicted as a young woman, naked from the waist up, standing or seated on a lotus throne, performing the boon-bestowing varada mudra with the right hand and the vitarka mudra with her left, which sometimes also holds a lotus stalk. The lotus she holds is believed to be the night-blooming utpala or blue lotus. When depicted seated on the lotus throne, her right leg is partially extended towards the ground, with the foot placed on a smaller lotus. Appearing in various manifestations across Buddhist iconography, she is most commonly found in her principal forms—Green Tara and White Tara—although depictions as Red Tara, Blue Tara, Yellow Tara, and Black Tara, each with their own iconography, are not uncommon.

While scholars have found it difficult to ascertain the precise origins of the cult of Tara, they have traced Tara’s rise to prominence as a goddess to the sixth and seventh centuries CE, alongside concurrent practices within the Hindu Devi and Shakti traditions. She was primarily worshipped in the Bengal region—covering parts of present-day West Bengal, Assam in India, and Bangladesh—until the eleventh century CE, when Tara worship spread to Tibet and the eastern Himalayan region through the Buddhist teacher and scholar Atisha.

One of the earliest references to Tara occurs in the mid-seventh century CE text Vasavadatta, a romantic tale composed in Sanskrit by Subandhu, and the earliest reference to her worship occurs in an inscription dated to 778 CE from Java, present-day Indonesia. Numerous texts referring to Tara worship and outlining iconography and religious context for her were composed in the seventh and eighth centuries CE. Later texts such as Taranatha’s (1575–1634) Golden Rosary and Twenty-One Praises of Tara played a significant role in establishing the cult of Tara in Tibet.

---

---

In some early representations, Tara is depicted as an attendant to Avalokiteshvara. In reliefs dating to the sixth century CE at the caves of Kanheri and Nalanda, for example, the figure of Avalokiteshvara is accompanied by female figures, one of whom may be identified as Tara, as she is seen holding a lotus flower—a common motif in later imagery depicting the goddess. The antiquity of this representation may also suggest Tara’s long-sustained prominence in Buddhist worship.

Tara’s association with Avalokiteshvara might be explained by a popular Tibetan origin myth, where she is believed to have appeared either from Avalokiteshvara’s left eye or from a pool of tears shed by him when faced with the world’s suffering. Another story rooted in Tibetan mythology views the wives of Tibetan ruler Songtsen Gampo—the Chinese princess Wen Cheng and Nepalese princess Bhrikuti Devi—as incarnations of White Tara and Green Tara respectively.

By the mid-seventh century, Tara assumed prominence in iconographic representations and was depicted alongside other deities such as Chunda, Bhrikuti, and Jhambala, as seen in the Buddhist carvings at Ellora. By the eighth century, Tara became a central figure, flanked by attendants of her own. This rise in popularity is substantiated by a large number of bronze and stone statuettes depicting Tara, excavated at sites such as Nalanda and Vikramshila and dated to the ninth and tenth centuries CE. Bronze images dating to the seventh and eighth centuries CE depicting Tara as a bodhisattva have also been found in Sri Lanka.

Amongst Tara’s many manifestations, of particular significance is Ashtamabhaya Tara—a liberator from the eight great fears, namely: lions, elephants, snakes, thieves, drowning, fire, captivity, and evil spirits. In this form, she is depicted as a central figure, either standing or seated, often green or white in colour, styled in the manner of a peaceful Avalokiteshvara. She is set against a natural landscape, protecting devotees from the eight great fears and surrounded by her eight manifestations as floating deities. The numerous smaller versions of Tara surrounding her central figure promote the idea that the goddess is omnipresent. Some of the earliest representations of Ashtamabhaya Tara, found at Ellora and Ratnagiri, are dated to the seventh to tenth century period.

---

---

Another prominent representation of the deity is as the ‘seven-eyed’ or Saptalochana Tara. A white-complexioned form, she is depicted with eyes on each of her palms and the soles of her feet, and an additional eye on her forehead to indicate her wisdom.

Tara’s minor manifestations, with their diverse iconographic aspects, are depicted across mediums such as paintings, thangkas, reliefs, and sculpture. Mahattari Tara takes a meditative posture and is depicted cross-legged. Vashyadhikara Tara sits in bhadrasana, a royal posture with her legs extending downwards. As Varada Tara, she often appears along with Ashokakanta Marichi, Mahamayuri, Gajata, and Janguli. The wealth-bestowing Tara with four arms, attended to by eight Taras and female door guardians, is known as Dhanada Tara. When depicted with a golden hue, she is known as Rajashri Tara. The Yellow Chintamani Tara stands beneath a bejewelled tree, bestowing the wish-granting gem Chintamani. A relatively popular minor form of Tara is Vajra Tara, depicting the deity as a yellow eight-armed figure capable of magic.

Scholars have noted iconographic similarities between Tara and Lakshmi, and both feature across Hindu and Buddhist representations. Both figures are enthroned on lotus flowers with lotus footstools and draped in regal garments. The two deities share attributes that may be associated with fertility and abundance. Lakshmi’s associations with water and its generative qualities may be related to the cult of the benign Tara, who is tasked with guiding people across the metaphorical sea of danger and suffering towards liberation.

The Drolma Lhakhang monastery in Tibet is the earliest extant temple dedicated to Tara. Established in the eleventh century during the lifetime or shortly after the death of Atisha (982–1054 CE), it is still a site for worship and contains its original set of gilt images of the Twenty-One Taras. In Nepal, a fourteenth-century effigy of White Tara is housed in the Tara Nani courtyard complex, an important site of Buddhist Tara worship located within the premises of the Ithum Baha, a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu. The site marks the spot where Tara is believed to have appeared from Tibet to teach the Dhamma. Tara also continues to be revered with the creation of thangkas and statues—in production since the twelfth and thirteenth centuries—which in Tibet and Nepal are believed to be animated and endowed with the ability to speak and perform miracles.

Just outside My Tho City, Vinh Trang Pagoda features massive Buddha sculptures recognized globally for their scale and serenity.

A 20-meter-tall reinforced concrete statue of Maitreya Buddha at Vinh Trang Pagoda (Tien Giang Province) was named among the world’s most impressive giant Buddha statues by the UK-based Wanderlust magazine in March this year.

Located just about 3 kilometers from downtown My Tho in Tien Giang, Vinh Trang Pagoda is one of the largest Buddhist temples in southern Vietnam, occupying nearly 20,000 square meters. The temple houses around 60 Buddha statues crafted from various materials, dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Seen from above, the statues of Maitreya Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, and Shakyamuni Buddha stand out strikingly.

The most prominent of these is the 20-meter-tall Maitreya Buddha statue made of reinforced concrete, weighing approximately 250 tons and inaugurated in 2010. Inside the statue are the offices of the Tien Giang Buddhist Sangha and a lecture hall with accommodation for 200 people.

The Maitreya Buddha statue at Vinh Trang Pagoda has been highlighted by Wanderlust as one of the world’s most colossal and striking Buddha statues.

The reclining Shakyamuni Buddha statue, completed in 2013, is 32 meters long and 10 meters high, also made of reinforced concrete and weighing 250 tons. These grand statues are intricately carved, reflecting the serene and enlightened expression of the Buddha.

In addition to its massive and solemn Buddha statues, Vinh Trang Pagoda features a seven-story stupa at the rear called the “Thap Phat” (Seven Buddhas Tower), dedicated to seven Buddhas.

The pagoda grounds are expansive and tranquil, filled with greenery, bonsai trees, blooming flowers, and lotus ponds.

Vinh Trang Pagoda is built in the shape of the Chinese character “Quoc”, with red-tiled roofs and a blend of cement and precious wood in its construction. The structure spans 1,400 square meters and consists of four connected halls: the front chamber, main hall, ancestral house, and rear hall.

The façade, made of concrete, resembles a French-style mansion, while one section of the roof shows Khmer cultural influences. Decorative ceramic tiles originate from Japan.

The interior of the main hall and ancestral house reflects Chinese architectural styles while preserving Vietnamese cultural traits. Hanging above are numerous wooden plaques inscribed in Han characters.

The wooden pillars inside are made of rare hardwoods. Connecting the halls is a square-shaped skylight courtyard with miniature non-bo landscapes featuring mountains and temples, rich in Vietnamese identity.

Inside the main hall, many Buddha statues are displayed, made of wood, bronze, terra-cotta, and cement. These statues, dating from the late 19th century, are gilded in brilliant gold.

The pagoda’s gate is a multi-tiered structure built in 1933 by artisans from Hue. The central gate is iron-forged in French style. Initially, it held statues of venerable monks who contributed to the temple’s history, which were later replaced with Buddha statues.

The upper tiers of the three-arched entrance gate are elaborately decorated with mythical creatures such as dragons, unicorns, turtles, phoenixes, deer, tigers, and fishermen. These sculptures are crafted from Vietnamese and Chinese porcelain, glazed in shimmering green hues.

In 2007, the Vietnam Book of Records recognized Vinh Trang Pagoda as the first Vietnamese temple to combine both Eastern and Western architectural styles.