🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Caves (Bezeklik precursor)
Six Dynasties to Tang ~300–800 CE · Tocharian Kuchean Buddhist with Gandharan influence
Kucha's 236 lapis-blue Jataka caves - China's earliest Buddhist grottoes on the Silk Road.
🇮🇩 Indonesia · Temple complex
Borobudur
Medang Kingdom Sailendra 780–835 CE · Mahayana Buddhist under Sailendra dynasty central Java
World's largest Buddhist Mandala mountain with 72 latticed stupas.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Sanchi Stupa Complex
Maurya to Gupta, 3rd c. BCE–5th c. CE, Great Stupa Ashoka 260 BCE expanded 2nd c. BCE · Buddhist (Maurya, Shunga, Satavahana, Gupta)
Ashokan hemispherical stupa with four sculpted torana gateways - genesis of Buddhist architecture.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Longmen Grottoes
Northern Wei to Tang 493–907 CE (peak Northern Wei 493–534, Tang 618–907) · Chinese Buddhist (Wei-Tang)
1-km limestone gorge with 1345 caves and niches, 2,345 caves total? Actually 1,345 caves, 43 pagodas and 100,000+ Buddhist images (largest Vairocana 17.14 m) carved 493–907 CE from Northern Wei…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Maijishan Grottoes
Sixteen Kingdoms to Tang ~384–907 CE · Chinese Buddhist Northern Dynasties
Stacked-cliff wheat-plant-shaped grotto city with 7,200 sculptures on bolted plank galleries.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Temple complex
Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi
Gandhara Kushan 1st century BCE–5th century CE (peak 2nd–4th CE) · Gandhara Buddhist (Kushan patronage)
Gandhara Buddhist monastery perched 154 m above plain on rocky ridge, founded 1st c BCE and flourishing 1st–5th c CE Kushan.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Great Stupa at Sanchi
Maurya to Gupta 3rd century BCE–12th century CE (great stupa 260 BCE, gateways 25 BCE–50 CE) · Maurya / Sunga / Satavahana / Gupta Buddhist
Earliest stone Buddhist stupa (Maurya 3rd c BCE, enlarged Sunga 1st c BCE–1st c CE) crowning hilltop at Sanchi, 36.5 m diameter hemispheric brick-and-stone dome encasing relics.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Taxila
Gandhara 6th c BCE–5th c CE (Achaemenid to late Kushan) · Gandharan / multi-empire (Persian, Greek, Buddhist)
Palimpsest city spanning Gandhara civilization 6th c BCE–5th c CE with three successive cities (Bhir Mound, Sirkap, Sirsukh) and Buddhist monastery complex Dharmarajika.
🇧🇩 Bangladesh · Temple complex
Paharpur (Somapura Mahavihara)
Pala Buddhist 8th–12th c CE · Pala Buddhist Mahayana–Vajrayana
Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur — largest single Buddhist vihara south of Himalaya (27-acre cruciform complex) built c.781–820 CE by Dharmapala Pala on Barind alluvium. Excavated 1923–34 by D.R.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Ajanta Caves
Satavahana early phase 200 BCE–100 CE; Vakataka renaissance 460–480 CE · Buddhist (Hinayana → Mahayana)
Thirty horseshoe-gorge rock-cut caves overlooking Waghora River with exquisite murals and sculptures: early 2nd century BCE–1st century CE Hinayana phase and later 460–480 CE Mahayana phase under…
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Ellora Caves
Late classical: Kalachuri, Chalukya, Rashtrakuta periods 600–1000 CE · Buddhist, Hindu (Shaiva), Jain under Rashtrakuta patronage
Largest rock-cut monastery-temple complex in world with 34 caves carved 600–1000 CE into basalt Charanandri Hills: 12 Buddhist, 17 Hindu, 5 Jain, including monolithic Kailasa Temple (Cave 16)…
🇲🇲 Myanmar · Temple complex
Bagan
Pagan Kingdom 1044–1287 CE (Bagan period 11th–13th century) · Bamar / Burmese Buddhist (Theravada)
Sacred landscape on Irrawaddy River bend with over 2,200 surviving Buddhist temples, stupas and monasteries from 11th–13th century Pagan Kingdom; at peak >10,000 structures, including Ananda,…
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya
Mauryan to Gupta · Buddhist
Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India is a Mauryan to Gupta temple complex attributed to Buddhist culture. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site (ID 1056).