Asia’s Best Religious Sites to Visit
Asia has many of the world’s greatest religious sites, thanks to its rich spiritual and cultural heritage. Some are centuries old and world renowned, some are more modern.
I’ve had the privilege of visiting many of them during the more than three decades I’ve lived in Asia. I seek them out whenever I can – not for religious reasons but because of what they say about those who built them and those who venerate them.
I’ve always found that seeing a sacred site and taking the time to get a feel for it gives you a glimpse into the soul of a country and its people.
Everyone will have their favourite spiritual places in Asia. Here are 12 of mine, ranging from the famous to the lesser known.
1. Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
I’ve seen no more impressive religious site in Asia than the wonderful Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. The huge central pagoda is awe-inspiring from close-up. But what’s most memorable is walking the circular route around it and taking in the many places of worship: stupas and shrines, Buddha images and big bells. It amounts to a town of Buddhist devotion and it teems with life.
Worshippers at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. Image: © Alan Williams
On my most recent visit to Yangon at the start of 2020, I visited Shwedagon four times in four days, sometimes at dawn, sometimes at dusk. Each time it offered a different experience. I can’t wait to see it again, pandemics and military coups notwithstanding.
2. Tiger’s Nest Monastery, Bhutan
Part of the mystique of Bhutan’s most famous monastery is that getting there is such a slog. It clings to a cliff in the mountains outside the city of Paro, with terrific views of the valleys below. The climb isn’t technically difficult, just long. It took me three hours plus to get there when I tackled it in 2012.
The famous Tiger’s Nest Monastery in Bhutan. Image: © Alan Williams
The monastery was built in the 17th century – how did they do it? – but much of it has been rebuilt since, most recently after a fire in the main building in 1998. When you finally reach it, there’s a feeling of being in a place lost in time, a real-life Shangri-La.
3. Taj Mahal, India
This most famous of all monuments to love qualifies as a religious site because it includes a working mosque. I first saw it in 1973 during my first visit to Asia, a backpacking trip through India and Nepal. It was one of those rare travel destinations that was every bit as good as I hoped it would be.
India’s Taj Mahal is a symbol of love. Image: © Alan Williams
When I visited it again in 2009, it was far busier but just as stunning. The crowds and pollution are taking their toll, though; its white marble is gradually turning yellow and there are genuine fears for its long-term well-being.
4. Jokhang Temple, Tibet
While the amazing Potala Palace is Lhasa’s most renowned structure, I was particularly impressed with the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred site in Tibetan Buddhism. Built over centuries in Tibetan, Indian and Nepalese style, it remains a working temple that attracts throngs of worshippers.
Inside the sacred Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. Image: © Alan Williams
I visited the temple on a bitterly cold January day in 2007 when there were few other non-Tibetans about and I could explore it largely on my own. The view from its flat roof overlooking Barkhor Square, with the Potala in the distance, is unforgettable. And joining pilgrims doing the kora – the circular walk around the outside of the temple – is an amazing experience.
5. Borobudur Temple, Indonesia
The colossal Borobudur Temple in Central Java is one of the world’s great Buddhist temples. Built in the 8th and 9th centuries, it consists of three tiers of beautifully carved stones topped by a huge stupa. It rises high above paddy fields and forests. One can imagine how people must have marveled at it centuries ago.
The impressive Borobudur Temple near Yogyakarta. Image: Marjo Groenewegen
I visited Borobudur with a small group of fellow journalists in 1997 while attending a meeting in nearby Yogyakarta. Our hosts received permission to take us after the normal closing time. We had the multi-level temple to ourselves as darkness set in over the surrounding countryside and the sounds of children at play melted away. It was magical. These days you can visit the temple at dawn or dusk by paying a higher entrance fee.
6. Preah Khan Temple, Cambodia
Anyone who has visited the many temples at Angkor in Cambodia will have their favourite. Mine is Preah Khan. While perhaps not as famous as the “big three” – Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Bayon – it’s a vast, magnificent 12th century complex that encourages you to take your time as you explore its seemingly endless courtyards, towers, corridors and shrines.
The Pavilion at the Preah Khan Temple. Image: © Alan Williams
Preah Khan’s sheer size means you can find quiet places even on the most crowded day. As at Ta Prohm, trees grow through its structure. Don’t miss its two-story Pavilion, a separate, pillared building that’s like nothing else at Angkor.
7. Great Buddha of Kamakura, Japan
The Great Buddha of Kamakura, a coastal town southwest of Tokyo, is Japan’s largest outdoor Buddha (or Daibatsu, the name for a giant Buddha statue). Built from bronze in the 13th century, it stands in the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. It’s an easy day trip from Tokyo by train.
The Great Buddha is in Kamakura’s Kotokuin Temple. Image: © Alan Williams
The Buddha was once housed in a large hall but after typhoons and a tsunami repeatedly destroyed the hall, it was left to stand in a beautiful open setting. It’s hollow and visitors are allowed inside. Rudyard Kipling wrote in 1903 that those who visit the Buddha will feel “the soul of all the East”. He was spot on.
8. Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Macau
The ruins of St. Paul’s, a 17th century Portuguese church, are perhaps Macau’s best-known landmark. But my favourite is a lovely little church on Coloane, the outermost of Macau’s islands. The Portuguese built the tiny Chapel of St. Francis Xavier in 1928.
The distinctive façade of the St. Francis Xavier church. Image: © Alan Williams
Everything about this church is eye-catching, from its yellow and cream façade with a bell tower to the colourful murals inside. Its history is fascinating too; it once held a relic of St. Francis Xavier as well as the bones of the 26 Martyrs of Japan, a group of Christians crucified in Nagasaki in 1597.
9. Barahi Temple, Nepal
Nepal abounds with remarkable temples, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley. But my favourite is a simple little Hindu temple in the city of Pokhara to the northwest. The reason: its location. The Barahi Temple stands on a small island in the large Phewa Lake alongside the city. You reach it by boat, enjoying views of the green hills lining the far shore – and, on a clear day, the high peaks of the majestic Annapurna range.
The Barahi Temple on an island in Pokhara’s Phewa Lake. Image: © Shishir Gautam
I first visited the temple in 1973, hiring a boatman to paddle me to the island. Pokhara was a relatively sleepy place back then, barely on the tourist radar. It’s far more crowded today, and the island is thronged with devotees during busy times. But a trip to the temple remains rewarding.
10. Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon
Because of its French heritage, Vietnam has many fine old churches. My favourite is the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica in the heart of old Ho Chi Minh City. It was built between 1863 and 1880. All building materials were imported from France, including the distinctive pinkish-brown bricks for the outer walls.
A Christmas Day mass in Saigon’s Notre-Dame Cathedral. Image: © Alan Williams
Vietnam is reported to have seven million Catholics, or seven percent of the population. Visiting the cathedral on Christmas Day 2010, when it was packed with worshippers, was a memorable moment. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Hanoi’s Old Quarter is also well worth a visit. It too draws the faithful in large numbers.
11. Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Brunei
When I lived in Bandar Seri Begawan in the 1980s, the impressive Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque symbolised the city for me. Completed in 1958, it’s built on an artificial lagoon which reflects its domes and spires. There’s an artificial royal barge in the lagoon too. All this lends itself well to photography.
The photogenic Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Brunei. Image: Adam Hill
The mosque’s large central dome is covered in gold leaf, and Italian marble was used to make the walls and floors. On a return trip to Brunei in 1997, I visited a new, even larger mosque in the city. It too was impressive but the older one remains my favourite.
12. St. Paul’s Church, Malaysia
Malaysia’s history of existing religious sites isn’t as long as in some neighbouring countries. But Malacca’s background as a colonial trading port means it has fascinating places of worship. St. Paul’s, on a hill overlooking the city, is Malaysia’s oldest church, built in 1521 and later enlarged.
The ruins of St. Paul’s Church in Malacca. Image: Jiw Ingka
St. Paul’s has long lain in ruins but is well worth visiting, not least for its history. The Portuguese, Dutch and British graves around it – some of children – tell a sad story of hardship far from home. Malacca also has Malaysia’s oldest functioning Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, and its oldest Chinese temple. Lots of history. for travellers to delve into.
Unidentified shrine, Sri Lanka
Finally, a shout-out to the small, unheralded places of worship you come across at village level throughout Asia. One of my favourites is this little shrine I stumbled across while walking in the mountains outside Ella in Sri Lanka’s Hill Country in 2015. Places like this reflect the enduring faith of local people.
A small Buddhist shrine near Ella in Sri Lanka. Image: © Alan Williams
This list is short and far from inclusive. It omits, for instance, the terrific temples of Thailand, the magnificent mosques of Turkey and the charming churches of the Philippines. Every visitor will have their own favourite sites and everyone’s list will be different. That’s what makes Asia such an endlessly absorbing place to explore.
Header image: Ploo Galary
