The "museum without walls": grassy royal burial mounds, the Cheomseongdae observatory and Silla-dynasty treasures across the town.
Fifteen rocks in raked gravel, arranged so you can never see all fifteen at once.
Japan's first capital: the Great Buddha of Todai-ji and 1,200 bowing deer in the park around it.
One of the world’s largest stupas, ringed by prayer wheels and monasteries.
Eighth-century Buddhist temple of stone pagodas and painted halls, paired with the Seokguram grotto Buddha above it.
Ruined former Siamese capital, UNESCO-listed.
Rock-cut cave temples in Maharashtra, crowned by the monolithic Kailasa temple.
Visit the ancient Buddhist monastery of Takht-i-Bahi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This well-preserved UNESCO World Heritage site, dating from the 1st century CE, features a main stupa, monastic cells, and meditation courtyards perched on a hilltop with sweeping views of the surrounding valley. Explore the intricate stone carvings and imagine the lives of monks who once studied here.
The 2,000-year-old sacred city: giant brick stupas and the oldest planted tree with a known date.
The Longmen Grottoes with 100,000 carved Buddhas, the first Buddhist temple in China and the April peony festival.
The Potala Palace at 3,650 metres, pilgrims prostrating around the Jokhang and the Barkhor market.
Mongolia’s oldest Buddhist monastery, walled by 108 stupas on the site of Genghis Khan’s capital, Karakorum.
Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist temple.
Medieval capital explored by bicycle — the Gal Vihara rock Buddhas and the royal palace ruins.
Sri Lanka’s first capital: giant brick dagobas, monastic ruins and the 2,300-year-old sacred Bodhi tree.
Ruins of one of the great Buddhist monasteries of ancient Bengal.
Angkor Thom’s central temple, where 200 giant serene stone faces stare from 54 towers.
Birthplace of the Buddha, UNESCO-listed.
Cycle among the lotus-pond temples of Thailand’s first capital, a serene UNESCO site without Ayutthaya’s crowds.
71-metre Buddha carved into a river cliff in Sichuan — the largest stone Buddha in the world.
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