Tradition guide
Buddhism
Buddhist sacred sites trace the movement of teachings, relics, monastic communities, cave practice, stupas, temples, and pilgrimage routes across Asia and beyond.
413 sacred places share this lineage. Use the country and site-type filters to narrow in.
Atlas summary
Buddhism sacred sites overview
Buddhism sacred sites connect places through shared lineage, ritual use, memory, and pilgrimage practice across the Pilgrim Map atlas.
Use this page to compare country clusters, common place types, UNESCO-tagged landmarks, and the map distribution before exploring individual site pages.
| Coverage | 413 Buddhism sacred places in the current atlas. |
|---|---|
| Country clusters | |
| Common place types | |
| UNESCO heritage | 21 UNESCO-tagged Buddhism sites appear in this browse view. |
Dates connected to Buddhism
Upcoming festivals, feast days, and pilgrimages tied to Buddhism. Add any to your calendar, or see the full observance calendar.
Showing 97-144 of 413 sites in this tradition guide
Hōchō-ji (法長寺)
Yokoze, Japan
Hōchō-ji is the seventh station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokoze, Saitama....
Hōgon-ji (宝厳寺)
Nagahama, Nagahama, Shiga, Japan
Hogon-ji is station 30 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Buzan-ha, Benzaiten devotion temple in Shiga dedicated to Senju Kannon....
Hōju-ji (宝寿寺)
Saijō, Saijō, Ehime, Japan
Hōju-ji is the 62nd fudasho on the Shikoku 88, an 8th-century imperial foundation that has been moved at least four times—by flood, war, Meiji separation, and the...
Hōki-in (法起院)
Sakurai, Sakurai, Nara, Japan
Hōki-in is station bangai-hoki-in on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism, Buzan branch temple in Nara dedicated to Kannon....
Hōrin-ji (法輪寺)
Awa, Awa, Tokushima, Japan
Hōrin-ji is the only temple among the Shikoku 88 whose principal image is a Parinirvana Shaka Nyorai—Shakyamuni at the threshold of nirvana, lying on his side....
Horyuji
Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan
The pagoda and main hall of Hōryū-ji have stood for over 1,300 years—the oldest surviving wooden structures on earth....
Hōsen-ji (法泉寺)
Chichibu, Japan
Hōsen-ji is the twenty-fourth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage — a Rinzai Zen temple of the Nanzen-ji branch that, until the mid-19th century, was a Shugendō...
Hōshō-ji (法性寺)
Ogano, Japan
Hōshō-ji — Hannya-san Hōshō-ji — is the 32nd station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, a Sōtō Zen mountain temple in Ogano set against a sandstone cliff....
Hotsumisaki-ji (最御崎寺)
Muroto, Muroto, Kōchi, Japan
Hotsumisaki-ji, Temple 24 of the Shikoku 88, sits on the cliffs of Cape Muroto. Below, in the Mikurodō Cave, the young Kūkai is said to have completed the Kokūzō...
Houki-in Temple
Japan
Hōki-in is the Mt. Kōya sub-temple charged each year with carrying fresh monastic robes to Kōbō Daishi at the Okunoin mausoleum, where Kūkai is believed to remain in...
Hōun-ji (法雲寺)
Chichibu, Japan
Hōun-ji — Zuiryū-san Hōun-ji — is the 30th station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, founded in 1319 by the Kamakura Zen master Dōin (Dōon) of Kenchō-ji....
Hsinchu Zhulian Temple
Hsinchu City, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu City, Taiwan
In Hsinchu's oldest Buddhist-affiliated temple, three Guanyin statues with three separate histories share one altar....
Ichihata-ji
Izumo, Japan
Ichihata-ji (Ichibata Yakushi), the 26th station of the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, sits atop Mt. Ichihata above Lake Shinji....
Ichijō-ji (一乗寺)
Kasai, Kasai, Hyōgo, Japan
Ichijo-ji is station 26 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism temple in Hyogo dedicated to Shō Kannon....
Ichinomiya-ji (一宮寺)
Takamatsu, Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan
Ichinomiya-ji is the eighty-third temple of the Shikoku circuit and the only one historically tied to a province's principal Shinto shrine....
Ido-ji (井戸寺)
Tokushima, Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan
Ido-ji, Temple 17 of the Shikoku 88, is named for a well Kūkai is said to have dug in a single night to bring clean water to a suffering village....
Ikaruga-dera
Japan
Hyōgo Ikaruga-dera in Taishi-chō was founded by Prince Shōtoku in 606 CE on rice-paddy lands granted to him in Harima Province by Empress Suiko....
Imakumano Kannon-ji (今熊野観音寺)
Higashiyama-ku, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Imakumano Kannon-ji is station 15 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism, Kumano cult temple in Kyoto dedicated to Jūichimen Kannon....
Imamiya-bō (今宮坊)
Chichibu, Japan
Imamiya-bō, fourteenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a Rinzai Zen temple of the Nanzen-ji branch on a site that was, for nearly a millennium, a single...
Ishite-ji (石手寺)
Matsuyama, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
Temple 51 of the Shikoku henro is the legendary birthplace of the entire pilgrimage tradition....
Ishiteji Temple, Matsuyama
Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
At Temple 51 of Japan's most famous pilgrimage, a stone preserved for twelve centuries tells of sin, remorse, and redemption....
Ishiyama-dera (石山寺)
Otsu, Otsu, Shiga, Japan
Ishiyama-dera is station 13 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism, Heian aristocratic Kannon devotion temple in Shiga dedicated to Nyoirin Kannon....
Iwamoto-ji (岩本寺)
Shimanto, Shimanto, Kōchi, Japan
Iwamoto-ji is the thirty-seventh stop on the Shikoku 88 and the only one enshrining five principal images simultaneously — Fudō Myōō, Shō Kannon, Amida Nyorai, Yakushi...
Iwanoue-dō (岩之上堂)
Chichibu, Japan
Iwanoue-dō is the twentieth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, a Rinzai Zen hall of the Nanzen-ji branch perched on a bluff above the Arakawa river....
![Iwaya-ji [ja] (岩屋寺)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Flive.staticflickr.com%2F5674%2F23792583391_6cd21251b5_b.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Iwaya-ji [ja] (岩屋寺)
Kumakōgen, Kumakōgen, Ehime, Japan
Iwaya-ji is the forty-fifth temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage and a designated National Scenic Beauty....
Iyadani-ji (弥谷寺)
Mitoyo, Mitoyo, Kagawa, Japan
Iyadani-ji is one of three reizan — spirit mountains — of Shikoku, places where the souls of the dead are traditionally felt to gather....
Iyo Kokubun-ji (伊予国分寺)
Imabari, Imabari, Ehime, Japan
Iyo Kokubun-ji is the 59th fudasho on the Shikoku 88 and one of the original kokubunji established in 741 by Emperor Shōmu's edict to protect the realm....
Jampa Lhakhang
Dawathang_Dorjibi_ Kashingtsawa, Bumthang District, Bhutan
Jampa Lhakhang in Bumthang is said to be one of 108 temples built by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo in a single day in 659 CE, each pinning a part of a supine demoness who...
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi
Anuradhapura, North Central Province, Sri Lanka
A cutting from the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment was brought to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE....
Jigen-ji (慈眼寺)
Chichibu, Japan
Jigen-ji, thirteenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a Sōtō Zen temple whose name — 'compassionate eyes' — is drawn from a verse of the Kannon Sutra....
Jikō-ji (慈光寺)
Tokigawa, Japan
Jikō-ji on Mount Toki, founded in tradition in 673 and as an institution in 770 CE, is one of the oldest Tendai mountain temples in the Kantō....
Jinne-in (神恵院)
Kan'onji, Kan'onji, Kagawa, Japan
Jinne-in stands on Mt. Kotohiki in Kan'onji, Kagawa, sharing a single precinct with Kannon-ji at Temple 69 — one of the rarest configurations on the Shikoku 88....
Jion-ji (慈恩寺)
Saitama, Japan
Jion-ji is the twelfth station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage, founded by tradition in the early ninth century by Ennin and named for Daji'en-si in Tang Chang'an —...
Jizō-ji (地蔵寺)
Itano, Itano, Tokushima, Japan
Jizō-ji is Temple 5 of the Shikoku 88, in Itano, Tokushima. Within the principal Enmei Jizō image is a smaller Shōgun Jizō said to be carved by Kūkai....
Jodo-ji
Japan
Gokurakusan Jōdo-ji in Ono shelters two of the only Buddhist National Treasures in Hyōgo: the 1194 Jōdō-dō, a rare survival of Daibutsu-yō architecture, and Kaikei's...
Jōdo-ji (Daijōritsu-in)
Onomichi, Japan
Jōdo-ji crowns a hill above the Onomichi waterway and serves as Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage station #9....
Jōdo-ji (浄土寺)
Matsuyama, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
Temple 49 of the Shikoku henro stands in low hills south of Matsuyama, weathered and quiet beside its busier neighbours....
Jokhang Temple
Chengguan District, Tibet, China
For nearly fourteen hundred years, Jokhang Temple has stood at the center of Tibetan Buddhism, housing what is believed to be the most sacred Buddha image in existence....
Jōraku-ji (常楽寺)
Chichibu, Japan
Jōraku-ji, eleventh station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, was the route's only Tendai temple through the Edo period before fire and Meiji-era reform reshaped it....
Jōraku-ji (常楽寺)
Tokushima, Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan
Jōraku-ji is the only temple of the Shikoku 88 dedicated to Miroku Bosatsu, the future Buddha....
Jōrin-ji (定林寺)
Chichibu, Japan
Jōrin-ji, seventeenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a small Sōtō Zen temple founded as an act of warrior repentance....
Jōruri-ji (浄瑠璃寺)
Matsuyama, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
Jōruri-ji is the forty-sixth temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage and the first of eight in the Matsuyama cluster....
Jōsen-ji (常泉寺)
Chichibu, Japan
Jōsen-ji is the third station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage in Saitama, Japan....
Jūraku-ji (十楽寺)
Awa, Awa, Tokushima, Japan
Jūraku-ji is Temple 7 of the Shikoku 88, in Awa, Tokushima. The 'Temple of Ten Joys' offers two specialized intercessions: an eye-healing Jizō beside the Hondō and a row...
Kabusan-ji
Japan
Kabusan-ji is a Tendai mountain temple in the hills north of Takatsuki, traditionally founded by En no Gyōja in 697 CE and held to be the place where Bishamonten was first...
Kagaku-ji
Japan
Banshū Akō Taiunzan Kagaku-ji is the Asano clan's family temple in Akō, founded in 1645 and made permanent home of Akō's memorial culture by the 1701–1703 vendetta of the...
Kakuman-ji
Japan
Kakuman-ji is one of the few Tendai Shinsei-shū temples outside the school's Sakamoto heartland near Mount Hiei....
Kakurin-ji
Japan
Totasan Kakurin-ji in Kakogawa shelters two National Treasure halls — a 1112 Taishi-dō and a 1397 Main Hall whose three-style synthesis is rare in Japan....
Showing 97-144 of 413 sites
Key questions
Buddhism sacred-site questions
- What are Buddhism sacred sites?
- Buddhism sacred sites are places connected by shared lineage, practice, memory, ritual use, or pilgrimage tradition.
- Where can I find Buddhism sacred sites?
- The strongest country clusters in this guide include Japan, China, Bhutan, Taiwan, Laos, India.
- What kinds of places are included?
- Common place types include temple, buddhist temple, monastery, sacred mountain, stupa, cave.
- Can I map Buddhism sacred sites?
- Yes. Compare country clusters and site types first, then open individual pages for coordinates, historical context, and visitor guidance.