Indonesia

The world's largest Buddhist monument in the Kedu Valley of Central Java, built around 778 to 850 under the Syailendra (Sailendra) Dynasty as a nine-tiered stone mandala with 2,672 relief panels, 504 Buddha statues, and 72 perforated stupas surrounding a central dome. Buried under volcanic ash for centuries, it was rediscovered in 1814, restored with UNESCO from 1973 to 1983, and inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1991.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Borobudur Temple Compounds, 1991)Jl. Badrawati, Borobudur, Kabupaten Magelang, Jawa Tengah 56553 (thung lũng Kedu)

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The largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia (anciently named Shivagrha and locally known as Loro Jonggrang), begun around 850 CE and consecrated in 856 CE under King Rakai Pikatan of the Sanjaya dynasty of the ancient Mataram Kingdom. Designed on a concentric mandala plan of 240 volcanic-stone temples surrounding three central towering shrines to the Trimurti: the 47-meter Shiva Mahadeva temple at the center (housing chambers for Shiva, Durga Mahishasuramardini, Agastya, and Ganesha), flanked by the 33-meter Brahma temple to the south and Vishnu temple to the north facing three Vahana mount shrines (Nandi, Hamsa, and Garuda), and famed for its narrative bas-reliefs of the Ramayana and Bhagavata Purana, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991)Jalan Raya Solo - Yogyakarta No. 16, Kranggan, Bokoharjo, huyện Sleman (Vùng đặc biệt Yogyakarta) và huyện Klaten (tỉnh Trung Java)

Photo: Christopher Michel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The largest, oldest, and holiest temple complex of Balinese Hinduism (Agama Hindu Dharma), known as the Mother Temple of Bali. Perched at an elevation of roughly 1,000 meters on the southwestern slopes of the active Mount Agung volcano, it comprises 23 related temples ascending across 6 terraced levels.

National Cultural Property of Indonesia (2018), UNESCO Tentative List (1995)Làng Besakih (Desa Besakih), quận Rendang, huyện Karangasem, sườn tây nam núi lửa Agung, tỉnh Bali

Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The National Mosque of Indonesia and the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, accommodating more than 200,000 worshippers. Designed by Protestant Christian architect Frederich Silaban and inaugurated in 1978, it stands directly across from Jakarta Cathedral as a living monument to Indonesia's independence and interfaith harmony.

National Mosque of Indonesia, Cultural Heritage Monument of JakartaJalan Taman Wijaya Kusuma, phố Pasar Baru, quận Sawah Besar, Trung Jakarta (Jakarta Pusat), Đặc khu Thủ đô Jakarta

Photo: alhafis, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral of the Archdiocese of Jakarta, built in Neo-Gothic style between 1891 and 1901 on the site of an earlier 1829 church. Designed by Father Antonius Dijkmans, SJ and completed by architect Marius Hulswit, it features three distinctive white openwork cast-iron spires engineered to withstand earthquakes and stands directly opposite Istiqlal Mosque.

National Cultural Heritage of Indonesia, Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese of JakartaJalan Katedral No. 7B, phố Pasar Baru, quận Sawah Besar, Trung Jakarta (Jakarta Pusat), Đặc khu Thủ đô Jakarta

Photo: Rantemario, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Two early ninth-century volcanic-stone Buddhist temples built under the Sailendra Dynasty on the Kedu Plain in Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia, aligned with the great stupa of Borobudur along an exact three-kilometer east-west ritual axis and inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Candi Mendut preserves in situ three monumental ninth-century monolithic andesite statues of Mahavairocana Buddha (three meters tall, seated with pendant legs in Dharmacakra Mudra), Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and Vajrapani Bodhisattva alongside the active Vihara Mendut monastery, while jewel-like Candi Pawon stands on the western bank of the Progo River adorned with reliefs of the wish-granting Kalpataru tree and celestial Kinnaras.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Borobudur Temple Compounds, 1991) and National Cultural Heritage Monument of IndonesiaMendut and Brojonalan Villages, Mungkid and Borobudur Districts, Magelang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Indonesia's second-largest Buddhist temple complex after Borobudur, located in Bugisan Village, Prambanan District, Klaten Regency, Central Java, just 800 meters north of the Hindu Prambanan temple complex and inscribed as part of the Prambanan Temple Compounds UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Founded in the late eighth century under King Rakai Panangkaran (Kelurak Inscription of 782 CE) and expanded in 792 CE under its original Sanskrit name Manjusrigrha (The Abode of Manjusri Bodhisattva), the rectangular Vajradhatu Mandala comprises 249 volcanic-stone temples: a 30-meter-tall cruciform central sanctuary surrounded by 8 intermediate Apit shrines, four concentric rings of 240 Perwara guardian temples, and eight monolithic Dvarapala guardian giants.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Prambanan Temple Compounds, 1991) and Second-Largest Buddhist Monument in IndonesiaBugisan Village, Prambanan District, Klaten Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The royal state and ancestral water temple (Pura Kawitan / Pura Paibon) of the historic Kingdom of Mengwi, located in Mengwi Village, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia. Founded in 1634 by King I Gusti Agung Putu, expanded in 1750 by architect Hobin Ho, and restored in 1937, the sanctuary occupies a lush 250-by-100-meter riverine peninsula encircled by a broad artificial moat symbolizing the Cosmic Ocean of Milk. Renowned for its inner courtyard skyline of multi-tiered black-palm-fiber Meru pagodas rising from three to eleven roofs in honor of Bali's sacred mountain peaks and royal ancestors, Pura Taman Ayun was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2012 as a supreme royal water temple of Bali's Subak irrigation system.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System, 2012) and Royal State Temple of MengwiJalan Ayodya, Mengwi Village, Mengwi District, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Photo: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

An iconic highland water temple of Balinese Hinduism situated at 1,200 meters above sea level on the western shore of volcanic Lake Bratan in Bedugul, Tabanan Regency, Bali. Founded in 1633 by King I Gusti Agung Putu of the Mengwi Kingdom and resting upon a prehistoric megalithic site from circa 500 BCE, the sanctuary venerates the water goddess Dewi Danu alongside the Hindu Trimurti through its eleven-tiered and three-tiered thatched Meru shrines on the lake and a Buddhist Stupa embodying Bali's historic Shiva-Buddha harmony.

Supreme Highland Water Sanctuary of Bedugul and Key Sacred Node of the Bali Subak Cultural LandscapeCandikuning Village, Bedugul Highlands, Baturiti District, Tabanan Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of Bali's seven directional sea temples (Pura Segara), perched dramatically atop an offshore basalt rock formation along the southwestern coast of Beraban Village in Kediri District, Tabanan Regency. Traditionally founded in the sixteenth century by the Shaivite Brahmin sage Dang Hyang Nirartha to venerate the sea deity Dewa Baruna (Bhatara Tengahing Segara), the sanctuary is cut off from the mainland at high tide yet shelters the miraculous freshwater spring Tirta Pabersihan and sacred banded sea snakes at its wave-lashed base.

One of the Seven Directional Sea Sanctuaries of Bali (Pura Kahyangan Jagat)Beraban Coastal Village, Kediri District, Tabanan Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of Bali's six supreme directional pillar sanctuaries (Pura Sad Kahyangan Jagad), dramatically crowning the edge of a sheer seventy-meter limestone cliff at the southwestern tip of the Bukit Peninsula in Pecatu, South Kuta, Badung Regency. Founded in the eleventh century by the sage Mpu Kuturan and expanded in the sixteenth century by the Brahmin reformer Dang Hyang Nirartha, who attained final spiritual liberation (Moksha) on this promontory, the coral-stone sanctuary guards the southwestern quadrant of the island in devotion to Lord Shiva Rudra.

One of the Six Supreme Directional Pillar Temples of Bali (Pura Sad Kahyangan Jagad)Pecatu Village Cliff, South Kuta District, Bukit Peninsula, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bali's most revered millennium-old sacred spring sanctuary, situated in the upper valley of the Pakerisan River at Manukaya Village, Tampaksiring District, Gianyar Regency. Recorded on the royal Manukaya stone inscription as having been masonry-lined in 962 CE (Saka 884) by King Sri Candrabhayasingha Warmadewa and mythologically linked to Lord Indra's creation of anelixir spring to revive his poisoned army against the tyrant Mayadenawa, the UNESCO-listed temple draws thousands of devotees to its carved stone waterspouts for the Melukat ritual purification bath.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cultural Landscape of the Pakerisan Watershed, 2012)Manukaya Village, Tampaksiring District, Gianyar Regency, Bali, Indonesia

Photo: Tigerente, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The historic religious and cultural heart of Aceh Province at the northern tip of Sumatra, rooted in the royal mosque founded in 1612 by Sultan Iskandar Muda of the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate. Rebuilt in brick and mortar between 1879 and 1881 after the original timber sanctuary burned during the Aceh War and expanded to feature seven black ironwood-shingled domes, eight minarets, and twelve Medina-style motorized courtyard umbrellas, the Grand Mosque achieved worldwide renown on 26 December 2004 when it stood firm amid the Indian Ocean tsunami, sheltering thousands of survivors.

Supreme Historical and Religious Monument of Aceh (The Veranda of Mecca), National Cultural Heritage of IndonesiaJalan Moh. Jam No. 1, Kampung Baru, Baiturrahman District, Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia

Photo: ROFIQOHHASAN, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

One of the oldest and most influential mosques in Indonesia, standing on Kauman Square in Bintoro, Demak Regency, Central Java, at the former capital of Java's first Islamic sultanate. Traditionally founded around 1479 CE (Saka 1401) by the revered Council of Nine Saints (Wali Songo) and Sultan Raden Patah, the sanctuary established the archetype of classical Javanese mosque architecture with its three-tiered pyramidal teak-shingled Tajug roof symbolizing Iman, Islam, and Ihsan, supported by four monumental Soko Guru teak pillars including the famous wood-chip pillar (Soko Tatal) crafted by Sunan Kalijaga.

National Cultural Heritage Monument of Indonesia and Archetypal Wali Songo Sanctuary of JavaKauman Square, Bintoro, Demak Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

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A landmark sixteenth-century Islamic sanctuary in Kudus, Central Java, founded in 956 AH (August 23, 1549 CE) by Sunan Kudus (Sayyid Ja'far Shadiq Azmatkhan), one of the revered Nine Saints (Wali Songo) of Java. Named Masjid Al-Aqsa Manarat Qudus after a commemorative stone brought from Jerusalem (Al-Quds), the complex is celebrated worldwide for its eighteen-meter red-brick minaret built in the exact form of a Hindu-Javanese Majapahit Candi temple inset with thirty-two antique porcelain plates, its eight-spouted Wudu ablution fountain, and Sunan Kudus's enduring interfaith teaching forbidding the slaughter of cattle out of respect for Hindu neighbors.

National Cultural Heritage Monument of Indonesia (Cagar Budaya Nasional) and Historic Wali Songo Pilgrimage SanctuaryJalan Menara, Kauman Village, Kota Kudus District, Kudus Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Photo: PL09Puryono, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

A poignant Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist temple bearing the dual Sino-Vietnamese titles Chua Kim Son (Golden Mountain Pagoda) and Quan Am Tu (Temple of Avalokitesvara), standing on a wooded hillside inside the former Galang Refugee Camp (Wisata Sejarah Kamp Vietnam) on Galang Island south of Batam in Indonesia's Riau Islands Province. Initially raised in timber between 1979 and 1980 and rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1990 by Vietnamese boat people sheltered under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Government of Indonesia between 1979 and 1996, the sanctuary overlooks the South China Sea alongside the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, preserved wooden refugee boats, and the 503 graves of Nghia Trang Cemetery.

Historic Humanitarian Heritage Monument of the Former Galang Refugee Camp (UNHCR and BP Batam, 1979 to 1996)Former Galang Refugee Camp (Wisata Sejarah Kamp Vietnam), Sijantung, Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia

Photo: Masgatotkaca, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

A leading contemporary, non-sectarian Buddhist monastery in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, originating from a 1978 lay Dharma fellowship and formally inaugurated on February 25, 1995 under the guidance of Venerable Aryamaitri Mahasthavira. Guided by the Lotus Sutra ideal of Ekayana (the One Vehicle) uniting Mahayana and Theravada traditions through Indonesian-language liturgy, the monastery is renowned for its Plum Village mindfulness community inspired by Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (who led a historic teaching retreat here in 2010), its vibrant youth education programs, and its inspiring public act of Buddhist forgiveness following an August 2013 bombing incident.

Flagship Non-Sectarian (Ekayana) Buddhist Monastery and Mindfulness Center of JakartaJalan Mangga II No. 8, Duri Kepa, Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, Indonesia

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The oldest surviving Buddhist and Three-Teachings temple in Jakarta, located in the historic Petak Sembilan market quarter of Glodok, West Jakarta. Originally founded in 1650 as Koan Im Teng (Pavilion of Avalokitesvara) by Chinese Lieutenant Kwee Hoen (Guo Xunguan) and grandly reconstructed in 1755 as Kim Tek Ie (Monastery of Golden Virtue) by Captain Oey Ing Kiat following the 1740 Batavia upheaval, the sanctuary is dedicated to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Despite a March 2015 fire that damaged its eighteenth-century timber roof, more than forty seventeenth- and eighteenth-century statues survived intact, and the temple remains the vibrant heart of Jakarta's Lunar New Year charity and bird-release traditions.

Oldest Buddhist Monastery in Jakarta (Founded 1650) and Designated Cultural Heritage Monument of DKI JakartaJalan Kemenangan III No. 19, Petak Sembilan, Glodok, Taman Sari, West Jakarta, Indonesia

Photo: Cun Cun, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Java's premier Catholic Marian pilgrimage sanctuary, nestled beside a natural mountain spring beneath two ancient Sono (rosewood) trees in the Menoreh Hills of Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta. On December 14, 1904, Dutch Jesuit missionary Father Franciscus Georgius Josephus van Lith baptized the first 171 Javanese Catholics (including pioneering catechist Barnabas Sarikromo) using water from this spring; twenty-five years later, on December 8, 1929, the Lourdes grotto was consecrated and named Sendangsono. Designed between 1974 and 1991 by priest-architect Father Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya (Romo Mangun) using river stone, terracotta, and open Javanese Pendopo pavilions, the sanctuary received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1992.

Recipient of the 1992 Aga Khan Award for Architecture and Historic Cradle of Javanese Catholicism (1904)Semagung Hamlet, Banjaroyo Village, Kalibawang District, Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

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A landmark three-hectare temple and cave complex at the foot of Simongan Hill in Semarang, Central Java, commemorating the early fifteenth-century landfall of Muslim maritime explorer Admiral Zheng He (venerated in Hokkien as Sam Poo Tay Djien) and his chief helmsman Wang Jinghong (Kyai Juru Mudi Dampo Awang). Built around the historic stone cave (Gedung Batu) where the fleet sheltered to treat sick crewmen, reconstructed in 1724, redeemed for free public worship by philanthropist Oei Tjie Sien in 1879, and grandly expanded between 2002 and 2005, the complex blends Taoist, Three-Teachings, Javanese, and Islamic maritime heritage.

Premier Maritime Cultural Heritage Monument and Interethnic Sanctuary of Semarang, Central JavaJalan Simongan No. 129, Bongsari, West Semarang District, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia

Photo: Candramawa99, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons