Buddhism

Only the stone foundations remain of one of the greatest Buddhist temples in early East Asian history.

A rare north-facing Ksitigarbha statue enshrined in a passageway off Osaka’s busiest area.

These two 90-year-old statues were once part of a Japanese Shinto shrine.

This temple is home to a group of Buddha statues made from thousands of bones and ashes of the deceased.

Take a lick of the legendary homemade miso paste that protected this Buddhist temple’s scrolls from a fire centuries ago.

This site was once the religious, cultural, and trade center of Sri Lanka.

Ancient rock-cut caves adorned with Buddhist inscriptions and sculptures.

This pilgrimage site was built to honor an incarnation of Buddha who sacrificed himself to save a tiger and her two cubs.

Displaying religious art made almost exclusively in modern styles helps set this Buddhist temple apart from the myriad others in Bangkok.

A pair of stupas that archaeologists believe were built to honor the parents of Siddhartha Gautama (aka Lord Buddha).

A sacred place for ascetic training, set in a honeycomb-walled cliffside cave deep in the woods.

Local legend claims that this is the final resting place of an infamous cannibal hag.

Giant Buddhas carved into sandstone walls line this Laotian motorbike route.

This compact temple is filled with garlands of colorful balls that represent restrained monkeys.

A giant statue of the Buddhist goddess of mercy watches over the town of Ōfuna.

Time and local lore colluded to turn this fear-defeating Buddha into a man-eating demon.

An old woman cured cholera in the 1820s and now her grave is said to be the city’s most cursed object.

In the former treasury of a popular temple, a rare sculptural depiction of Kannon’s diverse avatars.