Dozens of actors dressed as “bodhisattvas” (Buddhist deities) participated in a traditional Buddhist ceremony on Oct. 19 at the Sokujoin temple, symbolically leading the dying to paradise.

The Nijugo Bosatsu Onerikuyo ceremony, which was held at the branch temple belonging to the famous Sennyuji temple, dates to the late Heian Period (794-1185).

The religious rite depicts Amitabha and 25 bodhisattvas aboard a cloud leading departed souls to the Buddhist paradise. The actors wore golden masks and ceremonial clothing, while carrying musical instruments and tools, as they slowly marched across a 50-meter bridge linking the compound’s main building, representing paradise, with its Jizodo building, representing this world.

At the main building, the Kannon and Seishi bodhisattvas performed the Gokurakujodo no Mai (Dance of the paradise).

Similar events are held at about 40 temples across Japan, including the Taimadera temple in Nara Prefecture. -Ajw.Asahi.

As China's first official temple, Baima Temple - White Horse Temple - is not only the 'the cradle of Chinese Buddhism', but has also become an ideal place to demonstrate unique Buddhist cultures from different countries. The international Buddhist temple garden showcases shrines from foreign countries. Different styles of Buddha halls are magnificent and blend together.

The Indian-style Buddha hall is the first shrine that India has funded and built in a foreign country, which took 5 years and was inaugurated in May of 2010. Then Indian President Pratibha Patil attended the inauguration ceremony. The reason why she chose the west side of the Baima Temple as her location was that the Chinese Buddhism originated from India and came from the west.

The Thai-style Buddha hall is another shrine funded and built by a foreign country following the Indian-style Buddha hall to display the art of engraving. To guarantee the authentic Thai style, the halls' plan, design, and decoration are all undertaken by the Thai side.

The Thai Buddha, enshrined in the hall in 1991, is 7.2 meters high, weighing 6.68 tons and made of gold-plated copper.

The Myanmar-style Buddha hall is the third foreign shrine in the Baima Temple. The president of Myanmar Thein Sein made a special trip to the Baima Temple for the inauguration ceremony of the Myanmar Buddha hall on June 30, 2014.

The core building is a golden pagoda as high as 32.9 meters, modeled after Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, Myanmar. Covered with golden yellow, the pagoda is the highest architecture in the temple. What characterizes the Myanmar-style Buddha hall the most is that all the important parts are decorated with gold, and they look splendid regardless of viewing angles.

Pravarana Purnima, the second largest religious festival of the Buddhist community. The Assayujjiya Punnama or the full moon day of Assayujjiya (September-October) also known as the Pravarana Punnama. This full moon day signifies the end of the three month Lent of Bhikkhus. Other functions of the festival include the offering the offering of the Buddha Puja in the morning, feeding the monks in fornoon, illumimination of the monastery in the evening by lighting candles like the Diwali of Hindus, vows of Pancha Sila or Attha Sila by the elders and keeping the Sabbath (fast day). It is a day of great rejoicing and merry-making. Buddhists send up a kind of lighted balloon, made of thin paper, to the sky, called Phanus Baji, in the evening.

This Buddhist temple is where Guru Rinpoche, also known as the Second Buddha, was said to have meditated. The temple boasts of outstanding architecture and amazing beauty. It is located in the Himalayas on high cliffs above the Paro Valley. Guru Rinpoche was said to have appeared while riding a flying tiger. He then retreated to this place to mediate and subjugate the evil spirits trying to conquer his will. It is now considered to be one of the most sacred places in Bhutan. The temple also offers an astounding view of the surrounding areas.

The Temple of Heaven is regarded as a Taoist Temple although Chinese Heaven worship pre-dates Taoism. The temple was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Not only a beautiful sight, the temple is also surrounded by a vast public park popular with local residents practicing tai chi in the mornings and on weekends.

The Shwedagon Pagoda (or Golden Pagoda) in Yangon, is the holiest Buddhist shrine in Burma. The origins of Shwedagon are lost in antiquity but it is estimated that the Pagoda was first built by the Mon during the Bagan period, sometime between the 6th and 10th century AD. The temple complex is full of glittering, colorful stupas but the center of attention is the 99 meter high (326 feet) high main stupa that is completely covered in gold.

Located on the Indonesian island of Java, 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Yogyakarta, the Borobudur is the largest and most famous Buddhist temple in the world. The Borobudur was built over a period of some 75 years in the 8th and 9th centuries by the kingdom of Sailendra, out of an estimated 2 million blocks of stone. It was abandoned in the 14th century for reasons that still remain a mystery and for centuries lay hidden in the jungle under layers of volcanic ash.