Archive for the ‘Temples of East Asia’

  • CHAMPASAK IN LAO – BACKPACKING BUDDHIST PARADISE
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    CHAMPASAK IN LAO – BACKPACKING BUDDHIST PARADISE
    If you’re in the South East of Asia, and you’re cruising up from the area of Phnom Penh; then this is a must stop over. You could rest your tired feet at the town of Champasak which lies in Lao. An Introduction: Champasak lies in Lao, which is a landlocked country in South East Asia. Not as popular as it’s neighbors, Lao has remained unvisited by hordes of tourists. Champasak as a town lies around 25 miles downstream of Pakse’s southern hub. It is accessible from the Ban Muang docks; you could take a boat down from the shore that is located opposite the highway, once you’re there. A reminder of the town’s distinctive past stands in the form of a stone fountain, which is half decayed at this point in time. The entire town (well, literally almost all of it) is laid out on the stretch of a single  [...]
    Posted at July 14th, 2010 at 03:07 am
  • Pay a visit to the ancient Longhua Temple in Shanghai
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    Pay a visit to the ancient Longhua Temple in Shanghai
    Shanghai, in China, encompasses plenty of ancient shrines that are quite fascinating and worth a visit. In fact, the shrines in Shanghai are one of the most famous tourist attractions in the city. If you like to visit such religious places, there is one temple in particular you would adore. The Longhua Temple, which is a Buddhist Temple and is dedicated to Maitreya Buddha, is one of the most visited temples in the city. Tourists whenever come to the city, never fails to pay a visit to this beautiful site. This temple is a well-preserved architectural design of a Song Dynasty monastery, a Buddhist Chan sect. In fact, this temple is the largest, most genuine, and a complete ancient temple structure in Shanghai. The Longhua Temple was initially built during 242 AD, during Three Kingdoms’ Period. As every temple or ancient structures  [...]
    Posted at May 28th, 2010 at 02:05 am
  • Shanghai’s Jade Buddha Temple (Yufo Si)
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    Shanghai’s Jade Buddha Temple (Yufo Si)
    Jade Buddha Temple was founded in the year 1882, and is recognized as the Yu Fo Si in Shanghai. Today, this religious temple has become a well-known tourist destination. The reason behind its world-popularity are the two brilliant white jade Burmese Buddha statues. The two white jade Buddhas were actually brought from Burma by a monk of putuo shan in the year 1881. This temple is raising the magnificence of Shanghai, China with its amazing tradition. The temple structure was destroyed and was abandoned after the year 1911. However, the buildings were again constructed on the same site between the years 1918 and 1928. Today, a monastery of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, which is known as Jade Buddha Temple, entirely serves the foreign tourists and the local devotees equally. Even though, the Jade Buddha Temple is not so popular due to its architecture,  [...]
    Posted at May 24th, 2010 at 04:05 am
  • Temple of the Town God (Chenghuang Miao) in Shanghai
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    Temple of the Town God (Chenghuang Miao) in Shanghai
    Shanghai is among the captivating tourist destinations of China. You will be enthralled by the diversity of Shanghai and also its various tourist attractions. It is a city that offers unique combination of the ancient Chinese tradition along with the tenets of a contemporary city. You will never see shortage of tourist attractions in Shanghai. Instead of that, you will be mesmerized from its beautiful sights that are historically as well as culturally among the best in Asia and also in the world. The city is considered as the historical as well as cultural landmarks that feature 112 cultural relics; 15 venues, which reflect the culture of Chinese; and the 22 memorial sites. Out of this, the Temple of the Town God that is the Chenghung Miao in the city of Shanghai is among the countless religious sites that draws thousands of tourists  [...]
    Posted at May 17th, 2010 at 09:05 pm
  • Jokhang Temple- home of divine Sakyamuni
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    Jokhang Temple- home of divine Sakyamuni
    Location: Jokhang Temple is located in the heart of the old city of the Lhasa. It has the honor being the first Buddhist temple that was been constructed in Tibet. It is also supposed as the most temples among all the temples in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhists go to Lhasa as a pilgrimage throughout the year. History: During the early 7th century, one of the most important Kings of Tibet named Songsten Gampo got married to the princess of Nepal named Tritsun as well as to the princess of China named Wencheng. Both of the princesses brought with them a figure of Sakyamuni in Tibet. Songsten Gampo used to rule the Tubo Kingdom. During that time there were hardly any buildings and people used to live in tents. There were no palaces. As it was required to worship and enshrine the two priceless statues they princess brought with them, it was  [...]
    Posted at January 12th, 2010 at 05:01 am
  • Batu Caves – Shrine Of Lord Murugan
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    Batu Caves – Shrine Of Lord Murugan
    If one talks about the most popular Hindu temples outside India, then Batu Caves will take the first place in the list. Batu Caves are located 13 km north of the Malaysian Capital city of Kuala Lumpur.  The cave temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Lord Murugan and is visited by millions of devotees, especially during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam. The caves are a part of a limestone hill with dates back to approximately 400 million years. In historic times the caves were used as a place for shelter by the indigenous tribe knows as Temuan. Batu caves came in prominence in 1892, when K. Thambossamy Pillai installed a statue of Sri Subramania Swamy in the caves. He found the shape of the cave’s entrance resembling a ‘vel’, the divine spear of Lord Murugan.  Since then the Hindu festival of Thaipusam has been celebrated at  [...]
    Posted at September 25th, 2009 at 03:09 am
  • Weird And Wonderful Offerings In An Indian Temple
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    Weird And Wonderful Offerings In An Indian Temple
    A typical contribution offered at any temple in India would normally comprise of flowers, coconuts, sweets among others. In certain shakti peethas, the devotees offer food items of non-vegetarian form and intoxicants, liquor. If that is not outlandish enough, there is an Indian temple cited in Orissa in the district of Kendrapada where the partisans make offerings of ‘Clocks’. A once in a lifetime trip, absolutely undertaken is to the ‘Maa Panchu-baraha temple’ located in the district of Kendrapada, in the block of Rajnagar. The highly revered, nearly four centuries old temple is situated in a sea-facing village. The credence is that if one desires to partake in a voyage or entreat for one’s secure homecoming, then an offering in this temple would aid in taking care of one’s trip. The ardent devotees make offerings of  [...]
    Posted at September 10th, 2009 at 10:09 am
  • The Splendid Reclining Buddha Of Polonnawura
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    The Splendid Reclining Buddha Of Polonnawura
    The impressive, primeval second capital, Polonnawura of Sri Lanka that flourished during the time periods of 846 AD – 1302 AD, during its zenith was cosseted by a six kilometres long spanning fortifying, sturdy encompassing walls. Tactically, it covered most of the crossing over Mahaweli River that is considered the longest spanning and biggest river of the Sri Lankan island. Polonnaruwa boasts of the most widespread and well-conserved relics that proffer a mesmerizing view of primordial Sri Lanka. In the time period of several centuries, innumerable monuments have been constructed in reminiscence of the grand scenes of the life depiction of Buddha, but the one located in Polonnawura that was built during the twelfth century under the directions of the King Parakrambahu, is a spectacular piece of art form. It was built as a means  [...]
    Posted at August 26th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
  • Bamyan Pristine Abode Of The Colossal Buddhas- Part II
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    Bamyan Pristine Abode Of The Colossal Buddhas- Part II
    Bamyan, the biggest town in Hazarajat in central Afghanistan, had lately been ascribed as the abode to the most primeval oil-based works of art unparalleled globally. The town located on the old Silk Road lay at the intersection linking the Eastern and Western side, at a time when most of the trading among China and the Middle East was channelized via this way. In the fifth century, Bamyan was instated as capital by the Hunas. It is amongst the vastly frequented locales in Afghanistan due to the crag of Buddhas, the colossal statues, the monk caves vestiges, the City of Sighs or Shahr-e-Gholghola that has the remnants of a primordial city that faced the havoc of Ghengis Khan. The trail up to the Shahr-e-Gholghola is dotted with red rocks with the view from the top proffering spectacular sights of the Bamiyan valley. One comes across  [...]
    Posted at August 25th, 2009 at 04:08 pm
  • Bamyan Pristine Abode Of The Colossal Buddhas- Part I
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    Bamyan Pristine Abode Of The Colossal Buddhas- Part I
    Bamyan is Afghanistan’s most reachable and safe destination after Kabul that has the finest, awe-inspiring statues of Buddha nestled in its valley in central Afghanistan nearly hundred miles from west Kabul. The road tread to visit these magnificent statues is a torturous, close to ten hours drive by road, but the picturesque locales through the ride and the quaint, calm Bamyan village with its singular, spiralling road is a soothing variation to the chaotic existence noticed in Kabul. The ride commences at the street located south of Ghazni, an amazing road that metamorphoses into stony pathways, with evident stopovers due to scrupulous motor vehicle and complete body screening that are frequently undertaken in these parts. One crosses past the two passes, the 3,300 meters towering Unai and Hakigak that is 3,700 meters tall, en  [...]
    Posted at August 25th, 2009 at 03:08 am
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