Hi, it’s Katrina!
From long-lost ancient ruins only recently detected by state-of-the-art technology to
long-established local gems that are missed by most tourists, here are 8 temples and pyramids
hidden in the jungle
8.
Shwe Inn Thein Pagodas
The small village of Indein, located on the western bank of Inle River in the heart of
the Myanmar jungles, contains hundreds of pagodas of varying shapes, sizes, and states
of decay, as well as a central shrine.
The easiest way to access the village is by taking a boat ride down the narrow, foliage-lined
Inn Thein Creek, which can only be done during the winter or the rainy season, as it’s
too dry in the summer.
Most of the pagodas are crumbling and overgrown with bushes, but some have been restored.
The majority of them are thought to have been built during the 17th and 18th centuries,
although the site dates as far back to the third century BC, when the Indian emperor
Ashoka sent monks across Asia to spread Buddhism.
Based on inscriptions, the oldest known pagoda on the site dates back to the 14th century.
These structures are decorated with celestial beings and mythical creatures, and images
of Buddha.
There’s suspected to be many more yet-undiscovered pagodas, located deeper into the jungle.
There’s a shrine at the center of the pagodas, featuring a golden image of Buddha that many
people believe King Ashoka constructed himself.
However, there’s no archaeological evidence to support this theory.
7.
Beng Mealea
The Cambodian capital of Siem Reap is home to the Angkor Wat temple complex, one of the
largest religious monuments in the world.
About 25 miles (40 km) east of the main temples is a separate site called Beng Mealea.
To get there, you must make an hour-long journey out of Siem Reap down a bumpy, remote road.
Beng Mealea is over 900 years old and was built sometime in the 12th century, during
the reign of King Surya-va-raman.
It was constructed in the same architectural style as the temples at Angkor Wat, leading
historians to believe it’s related to the main complex; however, little is known of
its origins.
Archaeologists have discovered Hindu and Buddhist motifs among the eerie, crumbling ruins, but
they’ve found very little else to tell them more about the temple’s past, including
who built it.
The central sanctuary, where most intact structures are now found, was once surrounded by a series
of galleries and libraries, and the site was encompassed by a massive moat.
Today, the temple ruins have been largely overtaken by nature.
Large stone bricks from the buildings that once stood are scattered about the site, and
the remaining walls are crawling with vines.
It's a bit of a project to get there in the first place, but once you’re there, the
journey’s just begun.
For a small tip, a guide will lead you into the site’s most hidden and fascinating parts.
6.
Calakmul
The remains of the ancient Maya city of Calakmul are located in Campeche, Mexico, deep in the
tropical forest of the Tierras Bajas, in the southern central portion of the Yucatán Peninsula.
This UNESCO World Heritage site is far from most of the region’s modern towns, and getting
there requires a long drive.
There’s a north-facing great pyramid, known as Pyramid II, standing at 148 feet (45 m)
high.
It’s located within the core area of Calakmul, which occupies around 0.7 square miles (2
sq.km) and contains 1,000 structures.
To the east and west of Pyramid II lie sets of buildings.
An extensive network of canals and reservoirs surround the site, including the largest-known
reservoirs in the Maya world.
Calakmul thrived for twelve centuries and peaked between 500 and 800 AD, during which
time the 27-square-mile site (70 sq. km) hosted some 6,700 structures and was home to around
50,000 residents.
The city’s greater area contained up to 1.5 million people.
It was at the center of the Peten Mayan region, also known as the Mayan lowlands, and was
the most powerful in a coalition of settlements including El Mirador, which I will tell you
about soon!
At times, Calakmul had control over areas up to 93 miles (150 km) away.
5.
Wat Palad
Tucked into the heart of the jungle in Chiang Mai, Thailand is a temple known as Wat Palad,
also called Wat Pha Lat and Wat Sakithaka.
Located on Mount Doi Suthep a little outside of town, it’s largely unknown to tourists,
despite being named by Thailandee.com as “probably the prettiest forest temple in Chiang Mai
province.”
To get there, visitors provide their taxi driver with the temple name and are dropped
off on the side of the road.
From there you have to follow a trail into the forest, so I recommend you have a lot
of faith in your taxi driver!
When travel writer Jeremy Scott Foster visited, he recalled seeing what he thought was an
ordinary, dime-a-dozen Asian temple as he first approached Wat Palad.
He was soon proven wrong, however, as he further explored the site and discovered its unique
and harmonious intertwining with the surrounding environment - in his words, “the worldly
and unworldly side-by-side.”
Thailandee.com describes the temple as a “haven of peace, in a garden with beautiful statues.”
At Wat Palad, dogs and wildlife roam freely.
There’s a large rock waterfall overlooking the Chiang Mai skyline, as well as footpaths
and small bridges linking statues and stone carvings of dragons, worshipers, elephants,
and Buddhas.
4.
Saleshwaram Cave Temple
The Saleshwaram Cave Temple, is located in the Nallamala Forest of India’s Andhra Pradesh
district.
Getting there isn’t easy, it’s a long climb and a walk so hopefully you are in good
shape.
After a 6.2-mile (10 km) drive into the forest, visitors must cover an additional 1.9 miles
(3 km) or more on foot.
Saleshwaram Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and was built sometime between the sixth and
seventh centuries.
It’s been mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts and is known for both its religious
significance and its natural beauty.
Opposite the temple, there’s a 656-foot (200 m) high waterfall and an abundance of
lush greenery.
Rumor has it that the site is especially breathtaking under the moonlight.
The temple is only open for three to five days each year.
Visitors are advised to plan their trip for the Chaitra Purnima, or the full moon day
in the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar, which usually falls during March or April.
Tourists who want to visit the temple at other times can do so with the permission of a forest
officer.
3.
Mount Koya
Mount Koya is a small, secluded mountain-top Buddhist community located in a wooded area
of Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture, south of Kyoto and Osaka.
Over 100 temples and monasteries are located within Mount Koya, which has been considered
a spiritual retreat and one of Japan’s holiest destinations since it was established in the
year 819 by a famous monk named Kukai, or Kobo Daishi.
Most tourists miss this off-the-beaten-path gem, which is accessible by cable car or,
for the more adventurous traveler, a day-long or multi-day hike.
One way to get there is by taking a 43.5-mile-long (70 km) hike along the Kohechi Route, which
is part of the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Route, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Visitors desiring an authentic Buddhist experience can opt to stay at a shukubo, or temple lodging.
While you can expect a lack of conveniences you’re used to at a modern hotel, you'll
have the opportunity to enjoy traditional Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, interact with
resident monks, and attend morning prayers.
2.
La Ciudad Blanca
The Honduran jungle is one of the least-explored places on Earth, and is also the alleged site
of a rumored White City, or “City of the Monkey God,” an ancient, abandoned metropolis
that was once inhabited by an unknown civilization.
In 2012, the suspected site was discovered among a valley located within the Mosquitia
Mountains using LIDAR, or “light detection and ranging” technology, which has the capability
of finding structures and mapping terrain through even the densest jungle foliage.
In a January 2017 article for the New Yorker, author Douglas Preston recounted his nine-day
journey to the site with a joint Honduran-American archaeological team in 2015.
He described the initial experience as “disappointing,” particularly because the greenery was so thick,
Preston didn’t realize he was standing at the base of an earthen plaza in one of the
city’s centers.
To navigate from one landmark to another, the team had to use GPS, while cutting their
way through the foliage with machetes.
Little is known about the city so far.
It appears to have been abandoned around 1500 due to some catastrophic event, which prompted
survivors to leave a cache of ritually smashed objects near the central earthen pyramid as
a final offering to their gods.
Conquest by Spaniards and other Europeans has been ruled out as a possible cause of
the city’s demise, as none had ever traveled into this remote region.
The people may have been affected by the spread of deadly diseases brought by Europeans, however,
especially smallpox and measles, which seemed to travel ahead of their carriers, wiping
people out in mass numbers before their conquerors even reached them.
1.
El Mirador
Deep in the sub-tropical forest of Guatemala’s Petén Department are the tallest known Maya
pyramids and the largest Maya city ever discovered.
The site is named El Mirador, or “Viewpoint,” after the pyramids, which exceed the height
of the surrounding trees.
The only options for reaching El Mirador are to take mule trails through the thick jungle
or by helicopter.
The pyramids at the site were built over 2,000 years ago.
There are three main pyramids, called El Tigre, Los Monos, and La Danta.
Atop each of these multi-level structures is a group of three temple pyramids.
La Danta is the tallest of these pyramids, standing at 230 feet (70 m) high.
It’s also one of the world’s largest, with a volume of 99 million cubic feet (2,800,000
cubic meters).
An estimated 15 million man-days of work were required to complete this structure, according
to archaeologist Richard Hansen, who’s been the director and principal investigator of
the Mirador Basin Project since 2003.
El Tigre is 180 feet (55 m) high, and Los Monos stands at 157.5 feet (48 m).
During its heyday between 300 BCE and 100 CE, the city center consisted of over 1,000
buildings and covered an area of 17.4 square miles (28 sq. km).
Over 200,000 people may have lived in the city center, with more than a million residents
in the surrounding area.
Because the site has few natural resources and contains no water source, scientists are
unsure how so many people were able to survive here.
El Mirador was eventually abandoned, and then repopulated but it was never restored to its
former glory.
It was eventually completely abandoned and swallowed by the dense jungle following the
decline of the Maya civilization.
The city was re-discovered in 1926, when pilots, including Charles Lindbergh, thought they
were seeing volcanoes rising above the jungle instead of pyramids.
There are no roads, and it’s about a 7-day hike to get there.
No large-scale excavations were carried out until 2003, meaning there’s still a lot
to learn about El Mirador and archaeologists are now in a battle with the local rubber
farmers to protect the site and the endangered animals surrounding it.
Thanks for watching!
Which of these hidden temples and pyramids would like to visit most?
Let me know in the comments below!
Be sure to subscribe before you leave and I’ll see you next time!
Byeeee