Leshan Giant Buddha, China

The largest carved stone Buddha in the world towers over 232 feet into the air, with fingers measuring 11 feet in length and 92-foot-long shoulders big enough to be basketball courts. Leshan Giant Buddha overlooks the confluence of three rivers in the Sichuan Province of China. Begun during the Tang Dynasty in the year 713, the Buddha was built at the behest of a monk called Hai Tong who hoped to supplicate the temperamental water spirits thought to be responsible for numerous boat accidents. It took thousands of workers more than 90 years to complete the project.

Seemingly cosmetic details are even more complex and meaningful than they look upon first glance. For example, the 1,021 buns in the Buddha’s coiled hair are part of drainage system that continues behind the ears, in the clothing and along the limbs, protecting the statue from water-related damage.

There is a local saying: "The mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a mountain". This is partially because the mountain range in which the Leshan Giant Buddha is located is thought to be shaped like a slumbering Buddha when seen from the river, with the Leshan Giant Buddha as its heart.

Upside down trees, Madagascar

The Avenue of Baobabs, as called by locals, is a striking landscape drawing people from world over. The avenue has a collection of  baobab trees lining the dirt road which look as if they are upside down. If you arrive at sunrise or sunset, the view is striking, and good photos are a guarantee. This is a large region with the majestic tree in abundance, and a sacred baobab with offerings around it showing the significance of the trees.

The baobabs can grow to be 800 years old and up to 30 meters in height. Of eight baobab species in the world, six are endemic to Madagascar; one other is found in Africa and another in Australia.

The trees are a majestic legacy of a long defunct tropical jungle.

Pataleshwar Caves, Pune

Pataleshwar Caves on Jungli Maharaj Road in Pune are 8th century cave temples dedicated to Lord Pataleshwar, God of the Underworld. Believed to have been cut out from a single rock, the place has massive pillars, which are the grandeur of the temple caves. The shrine out there is dedicated to Shiva and the Nandi.

This religious shrine on Jungli Maharaj Road, housed in caves, that dates back to 700-800 AD has rather grand statues of Nandi, Sita, Ram, Lakshman, Lakshmi, Ganesh and an over-sized shivalingam under its roof. The attached museum is dim, dank and dusty and not worth wasting time over, apart from an exhibit that has made the Guinness Book of World Records - a grain of rice engraved with some 5000 characters. In front of the cave is a circular Nandi mandapa, its umbrella shaped canopy supported by massive square pillars. This mandapa is one of the peculiar structures of Pataleshwar.

The temple was left incomplete, possibly because of a fault line found at the back of the sanctum sanctorum, which made the further sculpting unsafe, or political upheaval resulting in loss of patronage. Still in use, the linga is anointed with ghee and yogurt. A brass temple bell hangs outside the basalt entryway.