Tradition

Zen Temple

8 in the atlas. Grouped by what the building actually is, not by one word for everything.

All traditions Thai Wat Hindu Temple Khmer Temple Balinese Pura Stupa Chinese Temple Shinto Shrine Pagoda Gurdwara Javanese Candi Lao Temple Cave Temple

Kyoto · JapanZen Temple

The Silver Pavilion, which was never actually silvered.

Kyoto · JapanZen Temple

Two upper floors in gold leaf, doubled in a still pond, and there is a reason it is on every poster.

Kyoto · JapanZen Temple

A vast wooden stage built out over the hillside on pillars, with no nails, and the whole of Kyoto laid out below it.

Kyoto · JapanZen Temple

Fifteen rocks in raked gravel, and from no single position can you see all fifteen.

Kyoto · JapanZen Temple

The five storey pagoda here is the tallest wooden tower in Japan and the first thing you see coming into Kyoto on the bullet train.

Tokyo · JapanZen Temple

Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 645 AD, reached through a shopping street that has been selling snacks to pilgrims for centuries.

Seoul · South KoreaZen Temple

The main temple of Korean Zen Buddhism, sitting in central Seoul surrounded by office towers.

Kandy · Sri LankaZen Temple

This is where a tooth of the Buddha is kept, which makes Kandy the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Sri Lanka.

Temples in this tradition