Top 5 Astounding Sanctuaries

5. Wat Phra Dhammakaya

This is sacred ground to members of the Dhammakaya Movement, a once controversial Buddhist sect. But to non-devotees, this temple simply looks out of this world. Shaped as what appears to be an unidentified flying object painted in gold, this abbot is a recent arrival having been established in 1970.

4. The Hanging Monastery

The Hanging Monastery on Hengshan Mountain in China is amazing! Carved into a cliff nearly 250 feet above the ground, the monastery appears to be floating in the air. The temple contains several shrines as well as silver, gold and clay statues representative of Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist teachings. Known properly as Xuankong Si, the temple was built in 491 and remains standing today, though it was renovated during both the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and again by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
3. Karni Mata

This temple in India has something every wandering soul seeking spiritual fulfillment yearns for – thousands and thousands of rats. Considered the reincarnations of once living humans, the rats are sacred to the temple and its patrons. While the rodents would be treated as pests anywhere else in the world, here they are offered food and shelter. The temple is dedicated to Karni Mata, a 14th-century mystic who was believed to be the incarnation of Durga, the goddess of victory.
2. Chimi Lhakhang

This monastery near Punakha, Bhutan is devoted for… you won’t believe – sex. Built in the 15th century, the temple’s founder, Drukpa Kinley, was known as a “Divine Madman” and thought of as a saint despite his affinity for alcohol, womanizing, blasphemy, and crude humor. To honor his legacy, Chimi Lhakhang is adorned with colorful paintings and carvings of phalluses throughout the temple grounds along with nearly 100 tall prayer flags. Often, childless women within Bhutan will travel to the monastery and perform a fertility ritual, which involves a monk striking a devotee with a wooden phallus to ward off evil.
1. The Meteora

Located in Kalampaka, Greece, the Meteora are series of 24 Eastern Orthodox monasteries atop towers of rock built starting in the 11th century. The rock towers themselves are some 60 million years old, emerging from the cone of a river and further transformed by earthquakes according to the World Heritage Convention. In Greek, Meteora means “suspended in air,” and the monasteries are an architectural marvel akin to the Hanging Monastery on Hengshan Mountain.