Buddha

At a museum dedicated to the millenia-old rites and art of Buddhism, the Buddha's reputed tooth is held as an object of worship.

A unique Buddhist temple with strange statues, beehives, and dinosaurs.

This enormous gold Buddha statue was hidden inside a stucco decoy for centuries.

The origin of this bizarre, ghostly idol is a local mystery, even to the temple it calls home.

Visiting this grotto is symbolic of a spiritual journey into Nirvana.

Hundreds of statues of Buddha’s disciples meditating, napping, sneezing, and picking their noses.

A hidden Buddhist gem accessible only by boat.

A giant statue perched on dumpsters watches over the freeway.

A hidden gallery exhibits intricate, decades-old Buddhist reliefs.

Buddha figures are carved into volcanic rocks on the seashore of Yamagara Prefecture.

A sculpture garden built by a retired durian farmer.

This statue of Buddha has a distinctive hairstyle meant to represent an unfathomably long period of meditation.

Though it is hundreds of years old, the intricate details on this 23-foot rock carving of Buddha have been preserved.

The largest seated Buddha statue in Japan is the centerpiece of an abandoned complex in a quiet, seaside town.

The site where Sakyamuni Buddha first met his father after achieving enlightenment.

A serene mountaintop temple complex featuring one big, bronze Buddha.

A bulky, ancient stupa marks the site of Siddhartha Gautama's seminal Buddhist teaching.

Though it was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple in the 15th century, complete with a massive hidden statue.