Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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In active religious use

This page groups sacred sites by whether their sacred status is still actively maintained. Wikipedia notes that Mircea Eliade "argues that while the concept of a sacred space is often associated with religious traditions, it is not exclusive to them," since secular societies can keep treating a place as significant too. Browsing this way lets a visitor tell a site with living religious observance apart from one preserved mainly for its history.

Facts
Overview
What Defines This Grouping
The places of the Buddha's own life, together with the monasteries, stupas, cave-temples and sacred mountains of every land Buddhism reached. The group spans Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, and most of its members lie outside the country the tradition began in - Buddhist sacred geography followed the religion's expansion rather than staying with its origin. 2
Size of the Traditional Set
Four: the places the Mahaparinibbana Sutta names as those a Buddhist should visit - the birth, the awakening, the first teaching and the final nirvana of the Buddha. Later tradition extends the four to a set of eight. 2
Directory
Category
Sacred Sites 1
Learn More
The Holy Places of Buddhism

This group holds the sacred sites of Buddhism, spread across Asia along the paths of the religion's expansion from India. Buddhist sacred geography begins with the places of the Buddha's own life (his birth, awakening, first teaching and passing), and extends to the great monasteries, stupas and cave-temples raised over relics and images.

The browser will find the pilgrimage places of the Buddha's biography together with the monastic and devotional centres of the lands to which Buddhism spread. The entries describe each site's history and significance, noting the tradition (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana) to which it chiefly belongs.

In active religious use
Filter Results30 entries

Adam Peak (Sri Pada)

In active religious use

Angkor Thom

In active religious use

Bagan

In active religious use

Bodh Gaya

In active religious use

Borobudur

In active religious use

Boudhanath

In active religious use

Erawan Shrine

In active religious use

Famen Temple (Famensi)

In active religious use

Great Wild Goose Pagoda

In active religious use

Haw Pha Bang (Royal Temple, Luang Prabang)

In active religious use

Hsi Lai Temple

In active religious use

Jokhang

In active religious use

Koyasan

In active religious use

Kushinagar

In active religious use

Lingguang Temple (Badachu)

In active religious use

Lumbini

In active religious use

Menri Monastery

In active religious use

Mount Emei

In active religious use

Mount Jiuhua

In active religious use

Mount Kurama

In active religious use

Mount Putuo

In active religious use

Mount Wutai

In active religious use

Sarnath

In active religious use

Shwedagon Pagoda

In active religious use

Tashilhunpo Monastery

In active religious use

Temple of the Tooth (Sri Dalada Maligawa)

In active religious use

Todai-ji

In active religious use

Tsurphu Monastery

In active religious use

Wat Phra Kaew and the Emerald Buddha

In active religious use

Yonghegong

In active religious use
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, 2nd edition
Peter Harvey, Cambridge University Press, 2013View the Source
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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