Taktshang Monastery, Bhutan
Taktshang Monastery is Bhutan's most photographed and most sacred site. This Buddhist monastery sits high on a cliff in the Himalayas, and is often shrouded in mist.
Visitors can join the locals in hanging Buddhist prayer flags on long strings strung around the monastery. But first, you must ask the monks if it is an auspicious day.
Potala Palace, Tibet
Tibetans say that the palace was originally built a thousand years earlier than the present structure, in 637. Its builder was a king who unified the Tibetan Empire, brought Buddhism to Tibet, and created the Tibetan alphabet.
The palace contains more than 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and 200,000 statues. The Potala Palace is the reason many visitors travel to Lhasa, Tibet.
Varanasi, India
The city of Varanasi in northeastern India is the center of the Hindu world. Millions of devotees come to Varanasi every year to pray and wade in the Ganges River.
Hindus believe that the ritual ablution with holy water from the Ganges River at Varanasi will cleanse them of their sins and help them attain a higher status in their next life. Varanasi is sacred to Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.
Many Hindus come here to be cremated for the last time. Doing so helps them find enlightenment. The fires you see in the Ganges are cremations.
Pashupatinath Temple, Nepal
Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu is the most visited place in Nepal. It is the largest Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva. This extremely powerful god is depicted as a tough figure, wearing a snake and a crescent moon.
Pashupatinath attracts devotees from all over the Hindu world and only Hindu pilgrims are allowed to enter the temple. Non-Buddhists can watch the proceedings from the opposite bank of the holy Bagmati River and witness a cremation ceremony.
Golden Temple of Dambulla, Sri Lanka
Dambulla is Sri Lanka's most impressive cave temple, attracting Hindu pilgrims for nearly 2,000 years. Today, it is also sought out by adventurous tourists to Sri Lanka.
Dambulla is more than just a temple. Its entrance is a giant gilded Buddha statue that leads into a large monastery carved right into the rock. Inside are five caves with white stone monasteries and shrines, all carved out of solid rock. There are also 157 statues carved from solid rock.
Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
The holiest pilgrimage site in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is the Shwedagon Pagoda. Many tourists come to Myanmar just to see the Shwedagon Pagoda.
The spectacular golden dome of the Shwedagon Pagoda is 98.1 meters high. It is covered in gold sheets and is set with a 76-carat diamond. The Shwedagon Pagoda is more than just a showpiece. Day or night, this magnificent structure is alive with the chanting and prayers of Buddhist monks and devotees. The pagoda also serves as a relic of four Buddhas. Among these sacred relics are eight hairs of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
