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.
664 sacred places share this lineage. Use the country links 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 | 664 Buddhism sacred places in the current atlas. |
|---|---|
| Country clusters |
Dates connected to Buddhism
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Showing 289-336 of 664 sites in this tradition guide
Kurama-dera Temple
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Rising 584 meters above Kyoto's northern edge, Mount Kurama has drawn seekers for over twelve centuries....
Kurje Monastery
Dawathang_Dorjibi_ Kashingtsawa, Bumthang, Bhutan
Kurje Lhakhang — the Temple of the Sacred Body Imprint — marks the cave where Guru Rinpoche meditated and subdued a local deity in 810 CE, leaving the impression of his...
Kyichu Monastery
Satsam, Paro, Bhutan
Kyichu Lhakhang in the Paro Valley is one of two temples vying for the title of Bhutan's oldest, built in 659 CE by King Songtsen Gampo to pin the left foot of a supine...
Kyūshō-ji
Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Kyūshō-ji is the twenty-fifth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage — a Sōtō Zen temple known by its older nickname Otehan-dera, 'Hand-Seal Temple,' for the legend...
Lake Nam Tso
Baingoin County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Lake Nam Tso sits at 4,718 meters on the Tibetan plateau, one of the highest large lakes in the world and one of the three holiest in Tibet....
Lake Yamzho Yumco
Ngarzhag, Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Lake Yamzho Yumco — Yamdrok — is one of Tibet's three holiest lakes and the one most charged with existential meaning....
Leshan Giant Buddha
Leshan, Sichuan, China
For ninety years, three generations of craftsmen carved Maitreya Buddha into the cliffs where three rivers meet at Leshan....
Lianzuo Mountain Guanyin Temple
Daxi, Taoyuan City, Taoyuan, Taiwan
On a small hill above the Daxi valley, its shape said to resemble the lotus seat that supports a buddha, this temple has drawn Hakka pilgrims since 1797....
Ling Jiou Mountain Monastery
Fulong, New Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taiwan
On a coastal mountain in northeastern Taiwan, this monastery was founded in 1984 by the monk Hsin Tao as a place to renew Buddhist practice for a modern world....
Linh Phước Pagoda
Đà Lạt, Lâm Đồng, Vietnam
Linh Phước Pagoda is a living Mahayana Buddhist sanctuary in Đà Lạt whose elaborate ceramic work surrounds devotion to Śākyamuni Buddha and Avalokiteśvara....
Linh Ứng Pagoda, Bà Nà
Bà Nà, Da Nang, Vietnam
Linh Ứng Pagoda at Bà Nà is an active Vietnamese Mahayana sanctuary above Đà Nẵng....
Linh Ứng Pagoda, Sơn Trà
Sơn Trà, Da Nang, Vietnam
Linh Ứng Pagoda at Bãi Bụt on Sơn Trà is an active Mahayana Buddhist complex centered on Quan Thế Âm....
Linji Huguo Temple
Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan
In the heart of Taipei stands a rare survivor: a Rinzai Zen temple built in Edo-period Japanese style during the colonial era, its main hall constructed of timber....
Long Sơn Pagoda
Nha Trang, Khánh Hòa, Vietnam
Long Sơn Pagoda is a major Vietnamese Mahayana center in Nha Trang, marked by monastic life, memorial worship, and a hilltop image of Śākyamuni Buddha....
Longmen Grottoes
Luolong District, Henan, China
The Longmen Grottoes stretch along the limestone cliffs of the Yi River south of Luoyang, a kilometer of carved Buddhist figures numbering over 110,000....
Lukang Longshan Temple
Lukang, Changhua County, Changhua County, Taiwan
Lukang Longshan Temple holds Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, in a Qing-era complex so architecturally intact that Taiwan's tourism authority calls it the country's...
Lumbini
Parsa, Lumbini Province, Nepal
Lumbini is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha. For over two millennia, pilgrims have traveled to this garden in southern Nepal where, according to...
Lushan Mountain
Jiujiang, Jiangxi, China
Rising above the Yangtze plain, Mount Lu has drawn monks, scholars, and poets for over sixteen centuries....
Maegami-ji
Saijō, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Maegami-ji is the 64th fudasho on the Shikoku 88 and the principal Buddhist anchor of the Mt. Ishizuchi sacred-mountain cult....
Magoksa Temple
Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea
At Magoksa, Taegeukcheon bends through a wooded valley before the halls rise on Taehwasan....
Mahabodhi Temple and Bodhi Tree, Bodh Gaya, Bihar
Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India
The Mahabodhi Temple marks where it happened—where a man sat down beneath a pipal tree and, after forty-nine days of meditation, achieved complete liberation from...
Mahasthangarh Buddhist temples
Shibganj Upazila (Bogura), Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Thirteen kilometres north of Bogra, the ruins of Mahasthangarh mark the site of Pundranagara — the oldest known urban settlement in Bangladesh, dating to at least the 3rd...
Mahiyangana Raja Maha Vihara
Mahiyangana, Badulla, Sri Lanka
Nine months after his enlightenment, the Buddha is said to have crossed to Sri Lanka and pacified its yaksha inhabitants at Mahiyangana, leaving behind a hair relic...
Mandara-ji
Zentsūji, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Mandara-ji is the ancestral temple of the Saeki clan, into which Kūkai was born....
Mangan-ji
Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Mangan-ji at Kawanishi, Hyōgo, is a Kōyasan Shingon temple founded by imperial decree of Emperor Shōmu in the Nara period....
Mangan-ji
Tochigi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Izurusan Mangan-ji, station 17 of the Bandō Kannon pilgrimage, sits in a karst valley north of Tochigi City....
Mani-ji
Tottori, Tottori Prefecture, Japan
Mani-ji is a special temple (tokubetsu reijō) of the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage on Mt. Mani north of Tottori City....
Manpuku-ji
Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Ming monastic form and Chinese chanting in Japanese Obaku Zen. Manpuku-ji remains an active Ōbaku Zen Buddhism temple....
Marishiten Tokudaiji Temple
Taito City, Tokyo, Japan
Marishiten Tokudaiji Temple (日蓮宗 妙宣山 徳大寺) is an active Nichiren Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo....
Matsuchiyama Shoden
Taito City, Tokyo, Japan
Matsuchiyama Shoden (待乳山 本龍院（待乳山聖天）) is an active Japanese Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo....
Matsunoo-dera
Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Matsunoo-dera is station 29 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Daigo-ha temple in Kyoto dedicated to Batō Kannon....
Mebar tsho (Burning Lake)
Bezur_Kuenzangdrag, Bumthang, Bhutan
Mebar Tsho — the Burning Lake — is a pool in a gorge in Bumthang's Tang Valley where the treasure revealer Pema Lingpa dived into the water holding a lit butter lamp in...
Meiseki-ji
Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Meiseki-ji is the forty-third temple of the Shikoku 88 and one of the few stops not affiliated with Shingon....
Mihwangsa Temple
Haenam, Jeollanam-do, South Korea
Mihwangsa Temple is an active southern Buddhist precinct set against Dalmasan in Haenam....
Mii-dera
Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
Mii-dera has earned its nickname—the Phoenix Temple—through seven destructions and seven risings....
Mimuroto-ji
Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Mimuroto-ji is station 10 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Honzan Shugen-shū temple in Kyoto dedicated to Senju Kannon....
Minamihokke-ji (Tsubosaka-dera)
Takatori, Nara Prefecture, Japan
Minamihokke-ji (Tsubosaka-dera) is station 6 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism — Tsubosaka temple in Nara dedicated to Senju Kannon....
Mireuk-ri Temple Site
Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
Mireuk-ri Temple Site, officially Chungju Mireukdaewonji, preserves a Goryeo Buddhist complex in the Haneuljae basin....
Mitaki-dera (Mitaki-Kannon)
Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Mitaki-dera — Ryūsen-zan Mitaki-ji — sits in a forested ravine 3 km from the hypocentre of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, with three named waterfalls flowing through the...
Mizuma-dera
Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Mizuma-dera, popularly called Mizuma Kannon, is among the most actively visited temples in southern Osaka....
Mizusawa-dera
Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, Japan
Mizusawa-dera, the sixteenth station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho Kannon pilgrimage, sits on the wooded slopes below Ikaho Onsen....
Monastery of St Mary, Zvërnec Island, Albania
Qendër Vlorë, Vlorë, Albania
Gangteng Monastery commands a spur above the Phobjikha Valley at 3,000 metres, fulfilling a prophecy made by the treasure revealer Pema Lingpa....
Monastery of St. Mary, Apollonia, Pojan
Pojan, Fier, Albania
Gangteng Monastery commands a spur above the Phobjikha Valley at 3,000 metres, fulfilling a prophecy made by the treasure revealer Pema Lingpa....
Motoyama-ji
Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Motoyama-ji rises from the Mitoyo plain in Kagawa, its vermillion five-storied pagoda visible across rice fields....
Motoyamaji Temple, Motoyama
Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Motoyamaji Temple, the 70th station on Shikoku's 88-temple pilgrimage, guards the approach to spiritual completion....
Motsu-ji
Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan
Motsu-ji, stands in Hiraizumi. At Motsu-ji, Tendai Buddhism guides custody. Prayer at Motsu-ji addresses Yakushi Nyorai within a Tendai Pure Land landscape....
Mount Gongga
Kangding, Sichuan, China
Mount Gongga rises 7,556 meters above the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan Province, the highest peak in the region by thousands of meters....
Mount Penanggungan, Java
Kedungudi, East Java, Indonesia
Old Javanese tradition holds that Mount Penanggungan, once called Pawitra, is the topmost section of the cosmic world-mountain Mahameru, broken off and carried from the...
Showing 289-336 of 664 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, Thailand, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Bhutan.
What kinds of places are included?
The guide includes sacred landscapes, pilgrimage places, and ritual or historical sites where available.
Can I map Buddhism sacred sites?
Yes. Compare country clusters and physical forms first, then open individual pages for coordinates, historical context, and visitor guidance.