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GLOBAL SHANANIGANS

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Puncak Manik Mas Temple
At the base of a hidden ravine, Puncak Manik Mas Temple’s ancient shrines and ritual waters lie beside the solemn Setra Ganda Mayu burial ground. Legends of King Mayadenawa and the enduring rites of life and death linger here, casting a shadowed, unforgettable aura over this secluded and unknown temple.
Shannon


Pegulingan Temple
Ancient and long hidden beneath the earth, Pura Pegulingan is a temple of Buddhist and Hindu devotion that survived centuries untouched. Rediscovered in 1982, its stupa, relics and ancient statues reveal a sacred past. The temple stands as a testament to Bali’s layered history, where faith, art and ritual endure through the ages.
Shannon


Bajra Sandhi Monument
Rising like a shadow over the heart of Denpasar, the Bajra Sandhi Monument looms across Lapangan Puputan Square, a silent witness to centuries of courage and defiance. Its bell shaped crown hums with ritual authority, while its towering form traps grief, sacrifice and unyielding spirit in stone. Beneath its shadow, memory and valor endure.
Shannon


Gunung Lebah - The Birthplace of Ubud
Rising from the heart of Ubud, Gunung Lebah Temple was founded in the 8th century by the Indian priest Rsi Markandeya as a sanctuary for meditation and spiritual retreat. Nestled at the confluence of the Wos and Pakerisan rivers, where their waters merge to form the sacred Campuhan, the site hums with serene energy, surrounded by forests rich with medicinal plants believed to heal both body and soul.
Shannon


Taman Pecampuhan Sala Temple
Set within a dramatic waterfall ravine, Pura Taman Pecampuhan Sala is a hidden jungle sanctuary where two rivers meet. The temple sits at a sacred crossroads between the physical and spiritual worlds, its waters carrying generations of ritual, devotion and purification. Believed to be centuries old, it has grown into a site of authentic spiritual cleansing. The temple’s quiet strength encourages introspection, offering a profound sense of connection to the island’s enduring s
Shannon


Jukut Paku Cliff Temple
Rising dramatically from the steep cliffs above the winding Wos River, Candi Tebing Jukut Paku is carved directly into the rock, its stone contours shaped to inspire devotion and quiet reflection. This 1000 year old cliffside sanctuary belongs to an ancient tradition of Balinese rock cut hermitages, offering seclusion for meditation and worship while immersing visitors in the rhythm and harmony of the natural world.
Shannon


Setia Darma House of Mask and Puppets
Occupying a quiet corner near Ubud, Setia Darma House of Mask and Puppets is where traditional architecture and cultivated gardens frame an extraordinary realm of performance art and ancient storytelling. Faces carved from wood and leather emerge from the shadows, their expressions suspended between beauty and unease. These are not decorative objects but instruments of ritual and narrative, crafted to command attention, stir emotion and blur the boundary between the human and
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Elephant Trunk Hill
At the confluence of the Li and Taohua Rivers, Elephant Trunk Hill stands as a silent guardian of Guilin, a natural sculpture shaped by time and legend. Said to be the petrified form of a celestial elephant struck down by the Heavenly Emperor, it blurs the boundary between myth and geology. For over a thousand years, poets and monks have carved their reverence into its stone, honouring its enduring spirit of wisdom and compassion.
Shannon


Suan Dok Temple
Marked by the presence royal ashes, Wat Suan Dok was established in the 14th century on the grounds of a royal garden. Its tranquil exterior belies over six centuries of sacred history. Whitewashed chedis catch the northern Thai sunlight, standing as symbols of devotion, mortality and remembrance. Surrounding the central chedi, royal mausoleums enshrine Chiang Mai’s rulers, underscoring the temple’s role as a spiritual bridge between the living and the departed.
Shannon


Batukaru Temple
High on the slopes of Mount Batukaru, Pura Luhur Batukaru is a sacred temple dedicated to Mahadeva, Bali’s fierce and protective God of nature. Moss covered meru towers rise above sacred springs and the air seems charged with centuries of devotion. The temple bears the memory of a violent battle that once shook its grounds, while legends of unseen guardians and lingering spirits continue to echo through its courtyards, giving Batukaru an enduring aura of mystery and sacred po
Shannon


Bale Kambang
Floating within the ruins of Klungkung Palace, Bale Kambang rises like a defiant island, a silent witness to centuries of ambition, devotion and blood soaked politics. Built when Bali’s unified kingdom splintered into warring courts, it is more than a royal relic, a fusion of power, spirituality and symbolic mastery. Its ceiling murals depict kings and gods walking the line between the mortal and the divine, while the surrounding waters reflect the cosmic ocean and the fragil
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Tiger Cave Temple - Wat Tham Suea
Hidden deep within the forest, the Tiger Cave Temple was founded in 1975 by a devoted monk seeking refuge from the world’s distractions. Drawn to the untouched serenity of the jungle, he discovered a secluded sanctuary where the whispers of the trees and the stillness of the air created the perfect environment for deep meditation. Amid shadowed caves and quiet trails, the temple rose as a place where nature, legend and spiritual devotion converge.
Shannon


Hangzhou West Lake
Shrouded in mist and legend, West Lake stretches like liquid silver across Hangzhou, a place that has inspired poets, Emperors and travellers for centuries. What began as a humble lagoon more than 1800 years ago was transformed by human hands into a shimmering masterpiece. Today, as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the lake’s serene surface hides centuries of ambition, artistry and whispered secrets.
Shannon


Wat Chedi Luang
Commissioned under King Saen Muangma in the late 14th century, this ancient royal monastery stands among Chiang Mai’s most venerated temples. Originally envisioned as a monumental reliquary to honour and enshrine the ashes of his father, King Ku Na, it was to rise as a symbol of royal devotion and divine aspiration. Yet destiny had other plans.
Shannon


Wat MingMuang - The Temple of Crouching Elephants
Long ago, the land where Wat MingMuang now stands was a vast, fertile swamp, alive with dense reeds and winding waterways. Hidden within this wild sanctuary, majestic elephants roamed freely, revered as sacred symbols of power, wisdom and royalty. Amid this untamed beauty, the temple’s foundations were laid, a place where human devotion met the quiet majesty of nature, shrouded in the whispers of centuries past.
Shannon


Co Loa Ancient Citadel
Dating back to 208 BC, Co Loa Citadel rose as the heart of the ancient Au Lac kingdom under the legendary King An Duong Vuong. Legend tells of a mighty crossbow and protective magic, yet even these could not save the kingdom from betrayal and ruin, a story of power, ambition and ghosts that still linger over the northern plains.
Shannon


One Pillar Pagoda
Regarded as one of Vietnam’s most iconic architectural treasures, the One Pillar Pagoda rises like a solitary lotus from the water. Built in 1049 AD by Emperor Lý Thái Tông and dedicated to Quan Âm, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, the shrine has long drawn worshippers seeking fertility, health and divine favour, its slender silhouette a silent witness to a millennium of faith and history.
Shannon


The Temple of Literature
Founded in 1070 AD under Emperor Lý Thánh Tông, the Temple of Literature honours Confucius and his disciples, its courtyards, banyan trees and lotus ponds echoing centuries of scholarly pursuit. Later home to Vietnam’s first university, it carries the weight of history and the whispered presence of generations of students, a place where wisdom feels alive, shadowed by the spirits of those who once walked its paths.
Shannon


Klungkung Royal Palace
Rising from the legacy of the Gelgel kingdom and the distant glory of the Majapahit Empire, Klungkung Palace was built in 1686 as the proud heart of a fractured Bali. For centuries it stood as a symbol of royal prestige, until 1908, when Dutch fire and a blood soaked Puputan reduced its grandeur to ruin, leaving only whispers of power, betrayal and the ghosts of a kingdom that refused to kneel.
Shannon


The Great Temple of Death
Agung Padangtegal Temple is one of the primary temples located within the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud, Bali. Established in the late 14th century, the temple serves as a key spiritual site for the local community, dedicated primarily to the worship of Hindu deities and various ancestral spirits. It is considered the main temple of the forest complex and plays a central role in religious ceremonies.
Shannon
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