Bizarre Photographs of Thailand’s Buddhist Hell Garden
Down an ordinary road about 60 miles outside of Bangkok you can explore hell. Scenes at Wang Saen Suk, aka Hell Garden, show visitors what happens when you fail to follow the right path of Buddhism. If your bad deeds outnumber your good deeds you’re in deep trouble. Continue reading »
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple: A Secret Garden In Kyoto Features 1200 Stone Sculptures
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji is a Buddhist temple in the Arashiyama neighborhood of Kyoto, Japan.
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji was founded by Empress Shōtoku in the middle of the eighth century. Though was destroyed by the flooding of the Kamo River, it was rebuilt as an offshoot of Enryaku-ji, a nearby temple. In the 13th century, it was again destroyed during a civil war. The temple was moved to its current location in 1922, later suffering typhoon damage in 1950. Continue reading »
Buddhist Novices Transform Into Princes In Initiation Ceremony
Photo by Claudio Sieber/Barcroft Images
A young boy shows off his dance moves as the group parades through the town in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, April 2016. Monk initiates ditch normal clothes for princely tunics, full make up and heaps of golden jewels for their ordination into Buddhist monkhood. Continue reading »
Buddhist Monk Makes Footprints In Wooden Floorboards Through 20 Years Of Prayer
70 year-old Buddhist monk Hua Chi has been praying in the same spot at his temple in Tongren, China for over 20 years. His footprints, which are up to 1.2 inches deep in some areas, are the result of performing his prayers up to 3000 times a day. Now that he is 70, he says that he has greatly reduced his quantity of prayers to 1,000 times each day. Continue reading »
