Buddhism

Hidden in a cave on a small Taiwanese island, a stalagmite reported to look like the bodhisattva Guanyin.

A relatively young Buddhist temple on hilltop, dedicated to a statue relocated from Mount Atago.

A mountaintop shrine-temple guarded by a horde of half-demon priests.

Home to 800-year-old zen basin, a 400-year-old pilgrim’s path, and a century-old industrial grotto.

Home to a legend of the supernatural raccoon dog, a rare wooden structure of Edo, and witnesses of the Tokyo bombings.

This lesser-visited gallery in a corner of the Tokyo National Museum complex is an architectural beauty dedicated to the ancient treasures of Hōryū-ji.

An eerie cluster of medieval cave-like tombs carved out of a cliff, hidden in a historic mountain pass.

A group of medieval rock-cut Buddhist statues created to save people from the volcanic hell that surrounds them.

A Buddhist monastery tucked away in the mountains of Colorado.

A network of ancient tunnels and vaulted chambers with mystical Buddhist reliefs, built for ascetic training.

Visiting this grotto is symbolic of a spiritual journey into Nirvana.

A temple complex has existed on this site since the third century.

Hundreds of statues of Buddha’s disciples meditating, napping, sneezing, and picking their noses.

A bizarre statue of a Buddhist goddess made from 20,000 insects.

A hidden Buddhist gem accessible only by boat.

Established hundreds of years ago, Gandan remains the premier Buddhist monastery in Ulaanbaatar.

These hilltop ruins of a forgotten Buddhist monastery flourished in Antiquity from trade with the Roman Empire.