Buddha

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

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

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

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.

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

This Theravada Buddhist temple is a peaceful oasis steeped in history.

At a museum dedicated to the millenia-old rites and art of Buddhism, the Buddha's reputed tooth is held as an object of worship.

A unique Buddhist temple with strange statues, beehives, and dinosaurs.

The origin of this bizarre, ghostly idol is a local mystery, even to the temple it calls home.

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

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

A hidden Buddhist gem accessible only by boat.

A giant statue perched on dumpsters watches over the freeway.

A hidden gallery exhibits intricate, decades-old Buddhist reliefs.

Buddha figures are carved into volcanic rocks on the seashore of Yamagara Prefecture.

A sculpture garden built by a retired durian farmer.

This statue of Buddha has a distinctive hairstyle meant to represent an unfathomably long period of meditation.