516 Items Tagged

Temples

La Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls), Mexico City

10 Surprising Sites in the World's Most Popular Cities

Find bird palaces, abandoned cave aquariums, and an island of severed doll heads hiding in these bustling cities.

Atlas Obscura November 12, 2024

Wolji Pond, South Korea

10 Places That Feel Like Journeying Back in Time

Who needs a time machine?

Atlas Obscura November 12, 2024

Yamagata, Japan

Night-Crying Sumo Wrestlers

A quartet of temple guardian statues that allegedly cry at night for being forbidden from wrestling.

Kasane-ga-fuchi

The eerie, tragic setting of one of Japan’s most popular ghost stories.

Yasaka Kōshin-dō Temple

This compact temple is filled with garlands of colorful balls that represent restrained monkeys.

Duy Xuyên District, Vietnam

My Son Sanctuary

Showcasing some of the best-preserved temples of the Champa Kingdom.

White Cloud Temple

First established in 741, this is one of the oldest Taoist temples in China.

Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Hindu Temples of Rawalpindi

Hidden among Rawalpindi’s modern buildings are the remains of dilapidated Hindu temples.

Agios Isidoros

A stunning little chapel built on a rock in the Mediterranean Sea on the Greek island of Leros.

Kigakurin Banshōji Temple

In a shopping arcade, a modernized temple deeply tied to feudal Japan’s prominent warlords.

Kamakura, Japan

Thirty-Three Avatars of Kannon

In the former treasury of a popular temple, a rare sculptural depiction of Kannon’s diverse avatars.

Yubizuka

This surreal thumbs-up monument commemorates a shiatsu legend.

Ichikawa, Japan

Namida-ishi

A single block in this stone staircase to the temple is mysteriously always wet.

Grave of Hattori Hanzō

Here lies Hattori Hanzō, a samurai who is remembered as a legendary ninja in today’s popular culture.

Kamakura, Japan

Hall of the Ten Kings at Ennoji Temple

Feast your eyes on the centuries-old statues of the judges of hell.

Amruteshwar Siddheshwar Temple Complex

A cluster of 18th-century temples with an underground shrine.

Parvati Nandan Ganpati Temple

This 17th-century temple gave the area of Ganeshkhind its name.

George Town, Malaysia

Dhammikarama Burmese Temple

This Theravada Buddhist temple is a peaceful oasis steeped in history.