Religious, Spiritual sights in Asia
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Chapel of the Dalai Lamas' Tombs
In the west wing of the assembly hall is one of the highlights of the Potala, the awe-inspiring Chapel of the Dalai Lamas' Tombs . The hall is dominated by the huge 12.6m-high chörten of the great fifth Dalai Lama, gilded with some 3700kg of gold. Flanking it are two smaller chörtens containing the 10th and 12th Dalai Lamas, who both died as children. Richly embossed, the chörtens represent the concentrated wealth of an entire nation.
One of the precious stones is a pearl said to have been discovered in an elephant's brains and thus, in a wonderful piece of understatement, 'considered a rarity'. Eight other chörtens represent the eight major events in the life of the…
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Temple of the Town God
Chinese towns traditionally came with a Taoist Temple of the Town God, but many fell victim to periodic upheaval. Originally dating to the early 15th century, this particular temple was badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution and later restored. Note the fine carvings on the roof as you enter to the main hall, dedicated to Huo Guang, a Han dynasty general, flanked by rows of effigies representing both martial and civil virtues. Exit the hall north and peek into the multifaith hall on your right dedicated to three female deities, Guanyin (Buddhist), Tianhou and Yanmu Niangniang (Taoist). Gazing fiercely over offerings of fruit from the rear hall is the red-faced and…
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Nancheng Mosque
The oldest mosque in Kūnmíng (or at least on the site where a mosque has sat the longest), the 400-year-old Nancheng Mosque can be recognised by its telltale greenish onion domes, though the lower floors essentially look like the white-tiled offices that they are!
Even worse, the once-lively strip of Muslim restaurants and shops selling skullcaps, Arabic calligraphy and pictures of Mecca nearby got its marching orders from the city government and has slowly been dispersing throughout the city. Not much is left. To get to what's left of the Muslim area from the Zhengyi Lu roundabout, walk west past Chūnchéng Jiǔlóu (Spring City Hotel) and then bear left a half-block to…
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Ngoc Son Temple
Perhaps the most visited temple in Hanoi, Ngoc Son Temple sits pretty on a delightful little island in the northern part of Hoan Kiem Lake. An elegant scarlet bridge, known as Huc (Rising Sun) Bridge, constructed in classical Vietnamese style and lined with flags, connects the island to the lakeshore. Surrounded by water and shaded by trees, this small temple is dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao, who defeated the Mongols in the 13th century, La To, the patron saint of physicians, and the scholar Van Xuong. Inside you’ll find some fine ceramics, a gong or two, some ancient bells and a glass case containing a stuffed lake turtle, which is said to have weighed a hefty…
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Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman
With its brilliant white walls and liquorice-black domes, the Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman is a dazzling sight on a sunny day. The first section of the mosque was built by the Dutch in 1879 as a conciliatory gesture towards the Acehnese after the original one had been burnt down.
Two more domes - one on either side of the first - were added by the Dutch in 1936 and another two by the Indonesian government in 1957. The mosque survived intact after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, a sign interpreted by many residents as direct intervention from the divine. The best time to catch the mosque is during Friday afternoon prayers, when the entire building and yard are filled with…
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King Songtsen Gampo's meditation chamber
Passing the Chapel of Sakyamuni (Zegya Lhakhang), continue to the NW corner where you'll find a small corridor that leads to King Songtsen Gampo's meditation chamber , which, along with the Chapel of Arya Lokeshvara on the 3rd floor, is one of the oldest rooms in the Potala. The most important statue is of Songtsen Gampo himself, to the left of the pillar. To his left is his minister Tonmi Sambhota (said to have invented the Tibetan script) and to the right are his Chinese and Nepali wives.
The king's Tibetan wife (the only one to bear a son) is in a cabinet by the door. The fifth Dalai Lama lurks behind (and also on) the central pillar. Queues for this chapel can be…
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Centre of Shaman Eternal Heavenly Sophistication
Ulaanbaatar's official Shaman Centre is a ramshackle collection of squalid gers teetering on the slope that leads to Gandan Monastery. While not particularly mystifying at first sight, this is the real deal, with a bona fide shaman at its helm, holding daily court. The resident shaman, Zorigtbaatar, is known for his fiery orations that rile up the faithful into a frenzy. There are two gers: one that honours the shamanic spirits and another that replicates nature, complete with a small lake, trees and stuffed animals. It is in the nature ger where the shaman performs his dance. If there is a ceremony going on, and you want your fortune told, you'll need to make a small…
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Phnom Chisor
The main temple stands on the eastern side of the hilltop. Constructed of laterite and brick with carved lintels of sandstone, the complex is surrounded by the partially ruined walls of a 2.5m-wide gallery with windows.
Inscriptions found here date from the 11th century, when this site was known as Suryagiri. The wooden doors to the sanctuary in the centre of the complex, which open to the east, are decorated with carvings of figures standing on pigs. Inside the sanctuary are statues of Buddha.
Curiously the USaround US$3 charge is not levied at the bottom of the hill, but at the temple, so it is technically free to visit if you pass on the old brick structure.
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Suwa-jinja Shrine
Between 7 and 9 October, this enormous shrine comes to life with the dragon dance of Kunchi Matsuri, Nagasaki's most important annual celebration. Inside you will find a number of cutesy komainu (prayer dogs!). Be sure to see the kappa-komainu (water-sprite dog, which you pray to by dribbling water on the plate on its head) and the gan-kake komainu (turn-table dog). The latter was used by prostitutes, who prayed that storms would arrive soon, forcing the sailors to stay at the port another day.
Suwa-jinja was established in 1625 and its forested hilltop setting is meditative indeed. Tram lines 3, 4 and 5 run to the Suwa-jinja-mae stop.
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Tanzhe Temple
The largest of all Běijīng’s temples, TanzheTemple dates as far back as the 3rd century but has been modified considerably since those days. The Buddhist temple is attractively placed amid trees in the mountains and its ascending temple grounds are overlooked by towering cypress and pine trees – many of which are so old that their gangly limbs are supported by metal props. Don’t miss the small Talin Temple ( 塔林寺; Tǎlín Sì) by the forecourt where you disembark the bus, with its assembly of stupas. Visits to Tanzhe Temple around mid-April are recommended, as the magnolias are in bloom.
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Seonnongdan
The altar is not worth visiting except for one day in April (which varies with the lunar calendar) : the re-enactment of the ceremony when Joseon kings came here to pray for a good harvest. A royal procession heads to the altar, where food offerings are laid out in special brass containers. Musicians in red robes play traditional instruments, and after the Confucian ceremony the onlookers tuck into seolleongtang (beef soup) and makgeolli (fermented rice wine) free of charge, just as in Joseon days. From the subway exit, walk straight as far as the notice board and turn right. When you come to a fork, go right. The altar is a 300m walk on the right.
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Kek Lok Si Temple
The largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia was founded in 1890 by an immigrant Chinese Buddhist. To reach the entrance, walk through arcades of souvenir stalls, past a tightly packed turtle pond and murky fish ponds, until you reach Ban Po Thar, a seven-tier, 30m (98ft) tower. The design is said to be Burmese at the top, Chinese at the bottom and Thai in between.
In another three-storey shrine, there's a large Thai Buddha image that was donated by King Bhumibol of Thailand. Presiding high above all the temple structures is a striking bronze figure of Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy. The temple's name translates, quite delightfully, as 'Temple of Supreme Bliss'.
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Nara Devi Temple
Halfway between Chhetrapati and Durbar Sq, the Nara Devi Temple is dedicated to Kali, Shiva's destructive consort. It's also known as the Seto Kali (White Kali) Temple.
Although the temple, with its three tiers, golden roof and red and white guardian lions, is quite old, some of the decorations are clearly more recent additions. It is said that Kali's powers protected the temple from the 1934 earthquake, which destroyed so many other temples in the valley. A Malla king once stipulated that a dancing ceremony should be held for the goddess every 12 years, and dances are still performed on the small dance platform that is across the road from the temple.
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Wat Nokor
The original fusion temple, Wat Nokor is a modern Theravada Buddhist pagoda squeezed into the walls of an 11th-century Mahayana Buddhist shrine of sandstone and laterite. It is a kitsch kind of place and many of the older building's archways have been incorporated into the new building as shrines for worship. On weekdays there are only a few monks in the complex and it is peaceful to wander among the many alcoves and their hidden shrines. There is also a large reclining Buddha.
To get here, head out of town on the road to Phnom Penh, and take the left fork at the large roundabout about 1km from town. The temple is at the end of this pretty dirt road.
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Tadhunchen Bahal
The Tadhunchen Bahal , or Chatur Varna Mahavihara, dates from 1491 and is noteworthy as the place where the cult of the Kumari, Nepal's living goddesses, originally started. Bhaktapur actually has three Kumaris but they lack the political importance of Kathmandu's.
In the inner courtyard the roof struts on the eastern side have some highly unusual carvings showing the tortures of the damned. In one a snake is wrapped around a man, another shows two rams butting an unfortunate's head from opposite sides, while a third strut shows a nasty tooth extraction being performed with a large pair of pliers! You may see copper chasing going on in the courtyard.
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Khanqah of Shah-i-Hamadan
With frontage and interiors covered in elaborately coloured wood carvings and papier-mâché reliefs, this distinctively spired 1730s Khanqah of Shah-i-Hamadan is Srinagar’s most beautiful historic building. Non-Muslim visitors can peek through the door but may not enter. The building stands on the site of one of Kashmir’s first mosques, founded by Persian saint Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani. Nicknamed ‘Shah’, Hamadani had arrived in 1372, one of 700 refugees fleeing Timur’s conquest of Iran. He is said to have converted 37,000 people to Sufi Islam, and it’s also likely that his retinue introduced Kashmiris to the Persian art of fine carpet-making.
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Holy Trinity Cathedral
The yellow domes of this handsome cathedral have risen from the rubble of Bolshevism at the corner of Lenina and Gagarin. Karakol's first church services were held in a yurt on this site after the town was founded. A later stone church fell down in an earthquake in 1890 (its granite foundations are still visible). A fine wooden cathedral was completed in 1895 but the Bolsheviks destroyed its five onion-domes and turned it into a club in the 1930s. Serious reconstruction only began in 1961.
Services are again held here, since its formal reconsecration in 1991 and again in 1997. Listen for its chimes marking Sunday morning services (07:00 to 11:00).
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Ramoche
The Ramoche is the sister temple to the Jokhang, constructed around the same time as the Jokhang but in Chinese style. It was built to house the Jowo Sakyamuni image that is now in the Jokhang. The principal image in Ramoche is Mikyöba (Akshobhya), brought to Tibet in the 7th century as part of the dowry of King Songtsen Gampo's Nepali wife, Princess Bhrikuti. The image represents Sakyamuni at the age of eight years.
By the mid-15th century the temple had become Lhasa's Upper Tantric College. It is said to have been badly damaged by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution but the complex has since been restored with Swiss assistance.
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Wat Manolom
Although its outer appearance isn’t very impressive, Wat Manolom stands just outside the barely visible city walls and occupies possibly the oldest temple site in Luang Prabang. City annals say it was founded in 1375 on the site of a smaller temple established by King Fa Ngum. The decaying sǐm held the Pha Bang from 1502 to 1513 and still contains a sitting bronze Buddha cast in 1372. This image is about 6m high and weighs an estimated two tonnes – some parts of the bronze are 15mm thick. An important city talisman, the image would probably be moved to another temple if anyone could figure out how!
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Siddhi Lakshmi Temple
By the southeastern corner of Bhaktapur's Royal Palace stands the stone Siddhi Lakshmi Temple also known as the Lohan Dega, or Stone Temple. The steps up to the temple are flanked by male and female attendants, each leading a rather reluctant child and a rather eager-looking dog. On successive levels the stairs are flanked by horses, rhinos, man-lions and camels.
The 17th-century temple marks the dividing line between the main and secondary parts of Durbar Sq. Behind the temple is another Vatsala Temple, while to one side of it are two rather lost-looking curly-haired stone lions, standing by themselves out in the middle of the square.
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Tengye Ling
The obscure and rarely-visited Tengye Ling chapel is a Nyingmapa-sect temple dedicated to the red-faced deity Tseumar, as well as Pehar (a protector linked to Samye) and Tamdrin (Hayagriva). The crates of baijiu (rice wine) stacked in the corner are there to refill the cup in Tseumar's hand; the chapel smells like a distillery. Look for the wonderful old photo of the Dalai Lama's pet elephant, stabled in the Lukhang behind the Potala.
The chapel is hidden in the backstreets west of the Snowlands Hotel and is hard to find; enter through the gateway marked by juniper and baijiu-sellers, just south of the Backstreet Bar.
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Dashchoinkhorlon Khiid
Like most monasteries in Mongolia, this one (built in 1992) replaces the original monastery, Bangiin Khuree, which was destroyed in 1937. About 1000 monks lived and worshipped at Bangiin Khuree before they were arrested and, presumably, executed. The remains of several stupas from the old monastery complex can be seen nearby.
The modern monastery contains statues of Tsongkhapa and Sakyamuni and features a painting of the old monastery layout. About 30 monks now reside there. The monastery is about 2.5km southwest of Bulgan City and is hidden behind some hills. The run down pavilion next to the temple, called Divajin, was built in 1876
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Sen Thmol, Sen Ravang & Tonlé Om
On the plain to the east of Phnom Chisor are the sanctuaries of Sen Thmol, just below Phnom Chisor, Sen Ravang and the former sacred pond of Tonlé Om. All three of these features form a straight line from Phnom Chisor in the direction of Angkor. During rituals held here 900 years ago, the king, his Brahmans and their entourage would climb a monumental 400 steps to Suryagiri from this direction.
There is a spectacular view of the temples and plains from the roofless gallery opposite the wooden doors to the central shrine of Phnom Chisor. Near the main temple is a modern Buddhist vihara that is used by resident monks.
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Heavenly King Hall
Entering the temple through Heavenly King Hall you are met by the tub-bellied Milefo (Laughing Buddha), flanked by four heavenly kings. The classical Chinese inscription reads: 'When entering, regard Buddha and afterwards pay your respects to the four kings of heaven'.
Behind Milefo is Wei Tuo, protector of Buddhist monasteries, who safeguards Buddhist doctrine and relics. He holds a stick that points to the ground, indicating that the temple is rich and can provide visiting monks with board and lodging (if the stick is held horizontally it means the temple is poor and is a polite way of saying 'find somewhere else to stay').
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Fahai Temple
The peaceful Fahai (Sea of the Law) Temple (Fǎhǎi Sì) on the western edge of Běijīng is unremarkable apart from the Ming-dynasty murals on the walls of the Mahavira Hall (Dàxióng Bǎodiàn). Painted in their original colours (a rarity in today’s Běijīng), the frescos are shrouded in darkness to protect their 500-year-old pigments, so pack a torch (a mobile phone may work). A taxi to the temple from Pingguoyuan Station costs Y10. Fahai Temple can be tied in with a trip to Bādàchù. Not far away is the peaceful tomb of Tian Yi, a Ming-dynasty eunuch.
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