TAISHAN (China)
Mount Tai (Taishan) is the eastern mountain of China's Five Sacred Mountains, signifying birth and renewal. It is considered sacred to both Buddhism and Taoism, and has been a site of religious activities for at least three millennia. It is also the highest point in China's Shandong Province.
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LONGMEN GROTTOES (Henan, China)
Located in the narrow "Dragon's Gate" (Ch. Longmen) along a half-mile stretch of the Yi River outside of the ancient capital of Luoyang, in China's Henan Province, this collection of over 100,000 statues (ranging from 1" to 57' high) and 2,345 artificial caves contains some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist carving, with the oldest dating back to 493 CE.
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BAGAN (Myanmar)
This ancient city in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar was from the 9th-13th centuries the capital city of the Bagan Kingdom, the first to unify the regions that would later make up Myanmar (Burma). In its heyday from the 11th-13th centuries, the Bagan plains alone were home to more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries; remains of over 2200 survive.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
THE MOGAO CAVES (western China)
Also called the "Thousand Buddha Grottoes," these 735 or so decorated caves are carved along a two-kilometer-long cliff face near Dunhuang on western China's Silk Road. The first caves were dug out in 366 CE (the last around 1368) for Buddhist meditation and worship. An important document cache was found in 1900 in the walled-up "Library Cave."
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
SOMAPURA MAHAVIHARA (Paharpur, northwest Bangladesh)
This ruins complex (8th-13th century CE) in NW Bangladesh was one of the five great Buddhist universities in the Indian subcontinent. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang stayed here; Atisha launched his mission to Tibet from here. Today it is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
KIYOMIZUDERA (Kyoto, Japan)
This Buddhist temple, whose name means "clear water," has a waterfall on the grounds. The dramatic location hanging off a hillside in eastern Kyoto, Japan, provides spectacular views of the city. Legend says jumping the 43 feet off the veranda--and surviving--grants wishes. 234 tried in the Edo period; 85.4% survived. The practice was prohibited in 1872.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
MOUNT FUJI (southwest of Tokyo, Japan)
At 12,389.2 feet the highest mountain in Japan (and 7th-highest island peak on earth), this active volcano last erupted 1707-1708. A cultural icon of Japan, it is also a sacred peak which has "inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries" (UNESCO). It's climbed by around 300,000 hikers and pilgrims yearly.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
THE AJANTA CAVES (Ajanta, India)
The 30 rock-cut Buddhist Caves in Ajanta, India, date back to the 2nd century BCE. They house paintings and sculptures, ancient monasteries and worship-halls, and served as a monsoon retreat for monks as well as stopovers for merchants and pilgrims. Once covered by jungle, they came to Western attention in 1819 as the result of a tiger-hunting party.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
THE BAMIYAN VALLEY (Afghanistan)
Home to two monumental 6th-century Buddha statues (125 feet and 180 feet tall, carved directly into a cave-riddled cliff nearly a mile long) until destroyed as idolatrous by the Taliban in March 2001, the area which once lay along one of the "Silk Roads" still has remains of 3rd-5th century Buddhist monastic centers and 6th-10th century Islamic forts.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
ITSUKUSHIMA (near Hiroshima, Japan)
Popularly called Miyajima--"Shrine Island"--this small island near Hiroshima, Japan, has one main shrine dedicated to the three Shinto goddesses of seas and storms, and numerous other shrines and Buddhist temples. It is most famous for the "floating torii" or shrine gateway seen on approaching the island.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
