Earning its rightful place on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1992, Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument on the planet and one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Commissioned in 1122AD by King Suryavarman II as a grand tribute to Vishnu, it was a bold deviation from the prevailing Shiva worship of the time. Suryavarman intended it not only as the capital of the ancient Khmer empire and a place of worship but as a funerary temple for

Bursting with an impressive collection of ancient cultural treasures, Eikan-dō is a sprawling complex of gardens and halls, most famous for its crimson maple leaves in Autumn. Established in 853 at the northern foot of Mount Higashiyama, this temple was a place of learning that nurtured the Pure Land sect it now belongs to.

Chiselled from rose-pink sandstone, this beautiful, miniature Hindu temple was built in 967AD and is the only major temple credited to be built not by a monarch but by a Brahmin of royal descent. Named Yajnavaraha, it is believed he was an important scholar, philanthropist and royal physician who helped those who suffered from illness, poverty or injustice.