Buddhist Asia

The journey in one line

12 stops in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, South Korea and Nepal so far. The first rung is 4 of them, and the list keeps growing.

Buddhism left India and became many things. Theravada took hold in Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia. Mahayana went north and east into China, Korea and Japan. Vajrayana settled in the Himalaya and Mongolia. These places belong to those separate histories. A relic palace in Kandy, a stone mandala in central Java, a bronze Buddha in Nara and a stupa in Kathmandu do not have a single shared practice behind them. This is a growing list rather than a fixed set. It will never be complete and the copy here will not pretend otherwise.

Seeing these next to each other makes it hard to hold on to one picture of what a Buddhist place looks like. The Tooth Relic in Kandy is a state symbol as much as a shrine. Haeinsa exists to store woodblocks. Borobudur was abandoned for centuries and is now an archaeological park with a ticket. Each one also records a transmission: who carried the teaching there, when, and what the local tradition did with it afterwards.

There is no order to this and no single trip that covers it. Sri Lanka's dry season for Kandy is January to April. Japan's Kōyasan is best in autumn and cold in winter. Kathmandu is clearest in October and November. Myanmar carries travel advisories; check your own government's current guidance before planning Yangon or Bagan.

Where it goes

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. A visit means being in the public visitor area of the place. This list is a selection and is not a survey of Buddhism, so completing a rung says something about your travel and nothing about the tradition.

1. 1

   Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

   ශ්‍රී දළදා මාළිගාව

   Kandy, Sri Lanka

   

   The Sri Dalada Maligawa holds the relic of the Buddha's tooth, which Sri Lankan kings carried with them as a sign of the right to rule. The present palace and shrine were built in the Kandyan period beside the lake. The relic is not shown; what visitors see is the casket chamber during the daily offerings.

   What counts as a visit

   The public shrine rooms and courtyards of the Maligawa during visiting hours.

   Access

   White or modest dress is expected, shoulders and knees covered, footwear left at the entrance. Security screening applies. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

2. 2

   Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi

   ජය ශ්‍රී මහා බෝධිය

   Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

   

   This tree at Anuradhapura was grown from a cutting of the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, brought to the island in the third century BCE. It is the oldest tree in the world with a recorded planting date. Terraced walls and a gold railing were built around it over the centuries.

   What counts as a visit

   The terraces and walkway around the tree inside the Anuradhapura sacred city.

   Access

   Part of the ticketed Anuradhapura sacred city. Footwear is removed and shoulders and knees covered. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

3. 3

   Borobudur

   Candi Borobudur

   Magelang, Indonesia

   

   Borobudur is a ninth century stone mandala built in terraces, with more than a thousand relief panels and seventy two bell shaped stupas on the upper platforms. Walking it clockwise from the base reads as a path from the world of desire to the formless. It was abandoned for centuries and cleared again in the nineteenth.

   What counts as a visit

   The monument terraces, entered on the timed ticket, plus the surrounding park.

   Access

   Access to the upper terraces is capped and timed, with sandals supplied. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

4. 4

   Tōdai-ji

   東大寺

   Nara, Japan

   

   Tōdai-ji was founded in the eighth century as the head of a national network of provincial temples. The Daibutsuden houses a bronze Buddha almost fifteen metres high, cast in 752 and repaired after fires. The present hall is an Edo period rebuild and is still one of the largest wooden buildings anywhere.

   What counts as a visit

   The Daibutsuden hall and the paying precincts of the temple.

   Access

   Ticketed halls with published hours. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

5. 5

   Shwedagon Pagoda

   ရွှေတိဂုံဘုရား

   Yangon, Myanmar

   

   Shwedagon rises almost a hundred metres above Singuttara Hill and is the centre of Buddhist life in Myanmar. The stupa is plated in gold and the crown carries thousands of donated gems. Tradition dates its first form to relics of the Buddha brought back by two merchants.

   What counts as a visit

   The public terrace around the stupa and its surrounding shrines.

   Access

   Footwear and socks come off on the terrace and shoulders and knees are covered. Travel advisories for Myanmar are in force. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Travel advisory

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

6. 6

   Wat Phra Kaew

   วัดพระศรีรัตนศาสดาราม

   Bangkok, Thailand

   

   Wat Phra Kaew stands inside the Grand Palace walls and holds the Emerald Buddha, a jade figure that is the palladium of the Thai kingdom. The king changes its robes three times a year with the seasons. No monks live here, which is unusual for a Thai temple of this rank.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple courtyard and ordination hall inside the Grand Palace ticket.

   Access

   A strict dress code covers shoulders, knees and ankles, and is enforced at the gate. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

7. 7

   Mount Kōya

   高野山

   Kōya, Japan

   

   Kūkai founded a monastic settlement on this plateau in 816 and it became the centre of Shingon Buddhism. Kongōbu-ji and the Danjō Garan temple compound stand at its heart. The Okunoin cemetery runs for two kilometres through cedar to the mausoleum where Kūkai is said to remain in meditation.

   What counts as a visit

   The Danjō Garan compound, Kongōbu-ji and the Okunoin approach.

   Access

   A living monastic town. Photography is not permitted beyond the Gobyōbashi bridge at Okunoin. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

8. 8

   Bulguksa

   불국사

   Gyeongju, South Korea

   

   Bulguksa was laid out in the eighth century under Silla and rebuilt many times after fire. Its stone terraces, bridges and the pair of pagodas in the main courtyard are the parts that survive from the original work. The Seokguram grotto on the hill above belongs to the same foundation.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple courtyards and halls open to visitors, and the Seokguram grotto viewing area.

   Access

   A working temple with ticketed entry. The Seokguram Buddha is viewed through glass. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

9. 9

   Haeinsa

   해인사

   Hapcheon, South Korea

   

   Haeinsa keeps the Tripitaka Koreana, more than eighty thousand woodblocks carved in the thirteenth century holding the Buddhist canon. The Janggyeong Panjeon depositories that store them were built in the fifteenth century and keep the blocks dry by design rather than by machine. The blocks have survived intact for seven hundred years.

   What counts as a visit

   The temple grounds and the exterior of the Janggyeong Panjeon depositories.

   Access

   The depository interiors are not open to general visitors. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

10. 10

    Boudhanath

    बौद्धनाथ

    Kathmandu, Nepal

    

    Boudhanath is one of the largest stupas in the world and the centre of Tibetan Buddhist life in Kathmandu. The dome sits on a stepped mandala base and is circled all day by people walking clockwise. It was damaged in the 2015 earthquake and the spire was rebuilt.

    What counts as a visit

    The stupa plaza and the circumambulation route around it.

    Access

    A monument zone of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage property, with an entry fee for visitors. Checked 2026-09-17.

    Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

11. 11

    Swayambhunath

    स्वयम्भूनाथ

    Kathmandu, Nepal

    

    Swayambhunath stands on a hill west of Kathmandu and is one of the oldest stupas in Nepal. Painted eyes look out from each side of the spire. The site has been shared by Buddhist and Hindu practice for centuries, and monkeys live on the wooded slope below the stairs.

    What counts as a visit

    The hilltop stupa platform and the shrines around it.

    Access

    Reached by a long stair or a road to the west side. Entry fee for visitors. Checked 2026-09-17.

    Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

12. 12

    Bagan

    ပုဂံ

    Bagan, Myanmar

    

    Bagan was the capital of a kingdom that built thousands of temples and stupas on the plain beside the Irrawaddy between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. More than three thousand still stand. Earthquakes and heavy handed restoration have both shaped what is there now.

    What counts as a visit

    The archaeological zone and the temples open to visitors.

    Access

    Climbing the monuments is not permitted. Travel advisories for Myanmar are in force. Checked 2026-09-17.

    Travel advisory

    Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

Respect and access

Every place here has its own footwear and covering rule and they differ. Shwedagon asks for bare feet including socks. Wat Phra Kaew enforces a dress code at the gate. Kōyasan asks for no photography past the Gobyōbashi bridge. Several of these are working monasteries where people live. Meals, study and sleep happen in rooms a few metres from the visitor route.

Travel advisory

A government advisory currently applies to this area. Read the current advisory before planning anything.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• sridaladamaligawa.lkhttps://sridaladamaligawa.lk/ · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/200 · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/592 · checked September 17, 2026
• todaiji.or.jphttps://www.todaiji.or.jp/en/ · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6367/ · checked September 17, 2026
• royalgrandpalace.thhttps://www.royalgrandpalace.th/en/home · checked September 17, 2026
• koyasan.or.jphttps://www.koyasan.or.jp/en/ · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/736 · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/737 · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/121 · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1588 · checked September 17, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.