Tiger’s Nest Monastery
Tiger’s
Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high
cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan. Legend has
it that Guru Rinpoche , the second Buddha, flew onto the cliff on
the back of a tigress, and then meditated in a cave which now exists
within the monastery walls.
The
monastery, formally called Taktshang Goemba, was built in 1692 and
reconstructed in 1998 after a fire. Now, the monastery is restricted to
practicing Buddhists on religious retreats and is off-limits to ordinary
tourists.
Wat Rong Khun
Wat
Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand is unlike any Buddhist temples in the
world. The all-white, highly ornate structure gilded in mosaic mirrors
that seem to shine magically, is done in a distinctly contemporary
style. It is the brainchild of renowned Thai artist Chalermchai
Kositpipat.
Actually,
the temple is still under construction. Chalermchai expects it will
take another 90 years to complete, making it the Buddhist temple
equivalent of the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain!
Prambanan
Prambanan
is a Hindu temple in Central Java, Indonesia. The temple was built in
850 CE, and is composed of 8 main shrines and 250 surrounding smaller
ones.
Nearly
all the walls of the temple are covered in exquisite bas relief
carvings, which narrate stories of Vishnu’s incarnations, adventures of
Hanuman the Monkey King, the Ramayana epic and other legends.
Though
not the biggest temple in Indonesia (Borobudur is larger – see below),
Prambanan makes up in beauty and grace for what it lacks in size.
Shwedagon Pagoda
No
one knows exactly when the Shwedagon Paya (or Pagoda) in Myanmar
was built – legend has it that it is 2,500 years old though
archaeologists estimate that it was built between the 6th and 10th
century.
Now,
when people say "golden temple" they usually mean that the structure is
golden in color. But when it comes to the Shwedagon Pagoda, golden
literally means covered in gold! In the 15th century, a queen of the Mon
people donated her weight in gold to the temple. This tradition
continues until today, where pilgrims often save for years to buy small
packets of gold leafs to stick to the temple walls.
As
if all that gold wasn’t enough, the spire of the stupa or dome is
covered with over 5,000 diamonds and 2,000 rubies (there’s even a 76
carat diamond at the very tip!). And oh, the temple housed one of the
holiest relics in Buddhism: eight strands of Buddha’s hair.
Temple of Heaven
The
Temple of Heaven is a Taoist temple in Beijing, the capital of
China. The temple was constructed in 14th century by Emperor Yongle of
the Ming Dynasty (who also built the Forbidden City) as his personal
temple, where he would pray for good harvest and to atone for the sins
of his people.
The
Temple’s architecture is quite interesting: everything in the temple,
which represents Heaven, is circular whereas the ground levels, which
represent the Earth, are square.
Chion-in Temple
Chion-in
Temple was built in 1234 CE to honor the founder of Jodo (Pure Land)
Buddhism, a priest named Honen, who fasted to death in the very spot. At
one point in time, the complex had 21 buildings but due to earthquakes
and fire, the oldest surviving building is from the 17th century.
Visitors
to the Chion-in Temple must first pass through the largest gate in
Japan: the two-story San-mon Gate. The temple bell is also a record
setter: it weighs 74 tons and needs 17 monks to ring it during the New
Year celebrations.
Another
interesting feature of the Chion-in Temple is the "singing" floor of
the Assembly Hall. Called a uguisu-bari or nightingale floor, the wooden
planks were designed to creak at every footstep to alert the monks of
intruders!
Borobudur
In
the 19th century, Dutch occupiers of Indonesia found a massive ancient
ruin deep in the jungles of Java. What they discovered was the complex
of Borobudur, a gigantic structure built with nearly 2 million cubic
feet (55,000 m³) of stones. The temple has nearly 2,700 relief panels
and 504 Buddha statues.
Until
today, no one knows for sure when and why it was built, nor the reason
for its complete abandonment hundreds of years ago. Some scholars
believe that Borobudur is actually a giant textbook of Buddhism, as its
base reliefs tell the story of the life of Buddha and the principles of
his teachings. To "read," a pilgrim must make his way through nine
platforms and walk a distance of over 2 miles.
Golden Temple
The
Harmandir Sahib (meaning The Abode of God) or simply the Golden Temple in Punjab, India is the most sacred shrine of Sikhism. For the
Sikhs, the Golden Temple symbolizes infinite freedom and spiritual
independence.
The
site of the Temple began with a small lake that was so peaceful that
even Buddha came there to meditate. Thousands of years later, Guru
Nanak, the founder of Sikhism also lived and meditate by the lake.
Construction
of the Golden Temple began in the 1500s, when the fourth Guru of
Sikhism enlarged the lake that became Amritsar or Pool of the Nectar of
Immortality, around which the temple and the city grew. The Temple
itself is decorated with marble sculptures, gilded in gold, and covered
in precious stones.
Vishnu Temple of Srirangam
The
Temple of Srirangam (Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple), in the Indian
city of Tiruchirapalli (or Trichy), is the largest functioning Hindu
temple in the world (Ankor Wat is the largest of all temple, but it is
currently non-functioning as a temple – see below).
The
temple is dedicated to Vishnu, one of three Gods in Hinduism. Legend
has it that a long time ago, a sage rested and put down a statue of
Vishnu reclining on a great serpent. When he was ready to resume his
journey, he discovered that the statue couldn’t be moved, so a small
temple was built over it. Over centuries, the temple "grew" as larger
ones were built over the existing buildings.
The
temple complex is massive: it encompasses an area of over 150 acres (63
hectares) with seven concentric walls, the outermost being about 2.5
miles (4 kilometers) long! The walls demarcate enclosures within
enclosures, each more sacred than the next, with the inner-most
enclosure is forbidden to non-Hindus.
The
Temple of Srirangam is famous for its gopurams or entrances beneath
colorful pyramids. The temple has 21 gopurams total, with the largest
one having 15 stories and is nearly 200 feet (60 m) tall.
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Bayon
Last
but definitely not least is the largest temple in history and the
inspiration to countless novels and action movies of Hollywood: Ankor
Wat.
Angkor
Wat was built in the early 12th century in what is now Cambodia.
The world famous temple was first a Hindu one, dedicated to Vishnu. In
the 14th or 15th century, as Buddhism swept across Asia, it became a
Buddhist temple.
The
Western world’s got a glimpse of Angkor Wat when a 16th century
Portuguese monk visited the temple and eloquently described it as "of
such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it
with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the
world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the
human genius can conceive of." His words still rang true today.
Tourists
visiting Angkor Wat usually also visit the nearby ruins of Angkor Thom
and Bayon , two fantastic temples that serve as the ancient
capital of Khmer empire.
Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple
Potala
Palace, built on top of the Red Mountain in Lhasa, Tibet, China was
built by the first emperor of Tibet in 637 CE. The current palace was
re-constructed in the mid-1600s by the fifth Dalai Lama.
The
Palace consists of two main buildings, the Potrang Karpo (White Palace)
and Portrang Marpo (Red Palace). It was the chief home of the
fourteenth and current Dalai Lama until he was forced to flee to India
when China invaded Tibet in 1959. It is now a state museum.
Jokhan Temple is
the spiritual center of Lhasa and is considered the most important and
sacred temple in Tibet. The temple was built in 642 CE and has since
housed the single most venerated object in Tibetan Buddhism: a statue of
Gautama Buddha [wiki], the founder of Buddhism.
The
city of Lhasa has three concentric paths that pilgrims use to walk to
Jokhang Temple. Many actually prostrate themselves along these routes in
order to gain spiritual merit!
