August 1968 – the 100-year anniversary of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii – marked the grand opening of this non-denominational Buddhist temple on the island of O’ahu below the Ko’olau Mountain Range. It is a replica of the Uji in Kyoto Prefecture Temple in Japan, which is now more than 900 years old. While this temple doesn’t host a monastery or hold a congregation, it does see more than one million visitors each year. Inside, an eighteen feet statue of Lotus Buddha (Amitābha) is covered in gold lacquer and surrounded by flowers. Outside sits the three-ton, brass peace bell which is said to give one good luck when rung. The Koi ponds surrounding the temple are the largest in Hawaii and host more than one thousand fish.
Founded in 1963, the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park, is the largest burial grounds on O’ahu. These sacred grounds entomb Buddhists, Shinto, Protestants and Catholics and feature statues of the Passion of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and eleven saints. Here are buried some of Hawaii’s most famous sons and daughters. Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos is interred here at a private mausoleum overlooking the Byodo-In temple.
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