Buddhism Holy Sites

Where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.

The largest religious monument in the world, originally Hindu then Buddhist.

Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda, gilded with 60 tons of gold.

The birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha.

The world's largest Buddhist temple, with 2,672 relief panels.

Former winter residence of the Dalai Lama, towering over Lhasa.

A stunning monastery clinging to a cliff face 900 meters above a valley.

An ancient city with over 2,000 Buddhist temples and pagodas.

A monumental bronze Buddha statue that has sat in the open air for 500 years.

A Zen Buddhist temple covered in gold leaf, reflected serenely in its mirror pond.

Home to Japan's largest bronze Buddha statue inside one of the world's largest wooden buildings.

A hillside temple famous for its wooden stage and sacred Otowa waterfall.

Tokyo's oldest and most visited temple, entered through the iconic Thunder Gate.

The birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu in the Song Mountains.

The world's largest stone Buddha statue, carved into a riverside cliff face.

A vast complex of 492 Buddhist cave temples with 1,000 years of murals and sculptures.

The holiest temple in Tibetan Buddhism, located in the heart of Lhasa.

Over 100,000 Buddhist statues carved into limestone cliffs along the Yi River.

One of China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains, home to over 30 temples.

A Khmer temple famous for its 216 massive serene stone faces gazing in all directions.

The jungle temple where massive tree roots engulf ancient stone ruins.

The founding temple of Phnom Penh, perched on the city's only hill.

The headquarters of Cambodian Buddhism and the most important monastery in the country.

A golden boulder perched impossibly on the edge of a cliff, balanced by a single hair of the Buddha.

Home to one of Myanmar's most venerated Buddha images, thickly encrusted with gold leaf.

The finest and best-preserved temple in Bagan, known as the 'Westminster Abbey of Burma.'

One of the last great temples built in Bagan, with exquisite plaster carvings and murals.

A gilded stupa in Bagan believed to enshrine a bone and tooth of the Buddha.

An ancient pagoda at the heart of Yangon that has served as a landmark for over 2,000 years.

Home to the 'world's largest book' — 729 marble slabs inscribed with Buddhist scriptures.

The tallest pagoda in Myanmar, enshrining two sacred hair relics and a tooth of the Buddha.

An ancient hilltop stupa overlooking Kathmandu, with the all-seeing eyes of the Buddha.

One of the largest spherical stupas in the world and center of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal.

A Tibetan Buddhist monastery famous for its meditation courses open to international visitors.

The exact spot where Queen Maya Devi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, marked by an ancient marker stone.

Sri Lanka's most sacred Buddhist temple, housing a tooth relic of the Buddha.

The largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka with 150 Buddha statues.

An ancient rock fortress rising 200 meters with frescoes, gardens, and a Buddhist monastery.

Sri Lanka's first ancient capital, home to the world's oldest known tree planted by humans.

The second ancient capital of Sri Lanka with stunning stone-carved Buddha figures.

A historic temple where the Buddha is believed to have preached on his third visit to Sri Lanka.

The mountain where Buddhism was first introduced to Sri Lanka in 247 BCE.

One of the oldest and most revered stupas in the Buddhist world, enshrining relics of the Buddha.

The most majestic dzong in Bhutan, at the confluence of two rivers.

The 'Fortress of the Glorious Religion,' seat of Bhutan's government and chief abbot.

A remote monastery overlooking the glacial Phobjikha Valley, home to endangered black-necked cranes.

One of Bhutan's oldest temples, built in the 7th century by the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo.

A temple dedicated to Bhutan's 'Divine Madman,' revered as a fertility shrine.

A sacred temple complex where Guru Rinpoche left his body imprint in a cave wall.

A fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro Valley, gateway to the Tiger's Nest trek.

Bhutan's largest dzong, ancestral seat of the royal dynasty, commanding a gorge above the Mangde River.

One of the world's tallest Buddhist statues, a 51-meter Guru Rinpoche overlooking the Lhuentse Valley.

Thailand's most sacred temple, housing the revered Emerald Buddha within the Grand Palace.

Home to a 46-meter golden reclining Buddha and the birthplace of Thai massage.

Bangkok's iconic riverside temple with a towering prang decorated in colorful porcelain.

A golden mountain-top temple overlooking Chiang Mai, founded where a sacred relic was carried by a white elephant.

A dazzling contemporary Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai, entirely white and adorned with mirrors.

The ruins of Thailand's ancient capital, with hundreds of Buddhist temple remains.

The cradle of Thai civilization and the birthplace of the Thai alphabet and Theravada Buddhism in Thailand.

A 45-meter-tall marble Buddha sitting atop Nakkerd Hill with panoramic views of Phuket.

One of the finest examples of Lanna temple architecture in northern Thailand.

The cliff niches where two colossal Buddha statues stood before their destruction in 2001.