Places
74 meditation centres, monasteries, temples and pilgrimage sites in India, Nepal and Thailand. Each page says what a visitor can do there and how to arrange it.
Show
- Meditation centres
- Run courses and retreats for lay visitors, usually by application.
- Monasteries
- Resident communities of monks or nuns. Some take guests who write first.
- Temples
- Public places of worship you can visit; a few hold meditation sessions.
- Sacred sites
- Pilgrimage sites, stupas, caves and archives.
Nepal
5 placesMap
Numbers match the list. Grouped circles open as you zoom in.
- 1LumbiniPilgrimage Site · LumbiniThe traditional birthplace of Siddhārtha Gautama in the Terai of southern Nepal, marked by the pillar the emperor Asoka set up there in 249 BCE.
- 2Ka-Nying Shedrub LingMonastery · Kathmandu, BagmatiThe monastery Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and his sons built beside Boudha Stupa, inaugurated in 1976. Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche has been its abbot since the opening.
- 3Nagi GompaMonastery · Budhanilkantha, BagmatiA nunnery on the southern slope of Shivapuri above Kathmandu. The 16th Karmapa gave it to Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche in the early 1960s, and he lived and practised here for thirty-three years.
- 4Boudha StupaStupa · Kathmandu, BagmatiThe great stupa of Boudha in north-east Kathmandu, one of the largest spherical stupas in the world and a centre of Tibetan Buddhist life since the 1960s.
- 5Asura CaveCave · Pharping, BagmatiA cave above Pharping where, in Nyingma tradition, Padmasambhava realised mahāmudrā through the practices of Yangdak Heruka and Vajrakīlaya. A major Vajrayāna pilgrimage site in the Kathmandu Valley.
Thailand
68 placesMap
Numbers match the list. Grouped circles open as you zoom in.
Northern Thailand · 18
- 1Dhamma AbhaMeditation Centre · Wang Thong, PhitsanulokA Goenka-tradition Vipassana centre on a green plateau in Phitsanulok province, with courses from three days to sixty days.
- 2Dhamma SimantaMeditation Centre · Pa Sang, LamphunA Goenka-tradition Vipassana centre on 50 rai of land among longan plantations, 40 kilometres south-west of Chiang Mai.
- 3Dhamma SudhalayaMeditation Centre · Lat Yao, Nakhon SawanOne of the newest Goenka-tradition Vipassana centres in Thailand, on 16 acres of farmland in Nakhon Sawan province.
- 4Pai International Meditation CentreMeditation Centre · Pai, Mae Hong SonRetreat centre near Pai in Mae Hong Son, run by Buddhist monks, offering seven-day retreats and free drop-in sessions in the Dhammakaya tradition associated with Luang Por Sodh. Aimed at international visitors.
- 5Wat Rai CherntawanMeditation Centre · Chiang RaiVipassana centre outside Chiang Rai city, founded in 2009 and recognised as a temple in 2025, that teaches satipaṭṭhāna courses to Thai and foreign meditators, including a seven-day course for foreigners.
- 6Anandagiri Forest MonasteryMonastery · PhetchabunSmall forest monastery in Phetchabun province in the Ajahn Chah tradition, led by Ajahn Achalo, where monks keep a semi-retreat routine and day guests can meet the community and meditate.
- 7Wat AranyawiwakeMonastery · Mae Taeng, Chiang MaiForest monastery at Ban Pong in Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai province, named by Ajahn Mun, where Luang Pu Waen once lived and Ajahn Plien Paññapatipo was abbot from 1966 until his death in 2018. No visitor programme is published.
- 8Wat Doi Mae PangMonastery · Phrao, Chiang MaiForest monastery in Phrao district, Chiang Mai province, where Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo, a student of Ajahn Mun, lived from 1962 until his death in 1985. His hut and a small museum of his belongings can be visited.
- 9Wat Pa Tam WuaMonastery · Huai Pha, Mae Hong SonForest monastery on the Pai to Mae Hong Son road in north-west Thailand. It takes lay meditators for short stays without prior booking, with teaching in Thai and English.
- 10Wat Ram Poeng (Tapotaram)Monastery · Chiang MaiA Chiang Mai temple whose Northern Insight Meditation Center teaches vipassana to Thai and foreign meditators, with a 26-day basic course and stays of at least ten days.
- 11Wat Tham Doi TohnMonastery · Mae Wang, Chiang MaiCave monastery in the hills of Mae Wang district, south-west of Chiang Mai, whose abbot studied with Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo and runs regular meditation courses.
- 12Wat Tham Pha PlongMonastery · Chiang Dao, Chiang MaiMountain monastery near Chiang Dao, founded in 1967 by Luang Pu Sim Buddhacaro, a student of Ajahn Mun. A forest stairway of about 510 steps climbs to a rock shelter and a chedi.
- 13Wat Umong Suan PhutthathamMonastery · Chiang MaiA forest temple at the foot of Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, known for its tunnels and for a meditation centre that takes Thai and foreign meditators for stays of three days to two weeks.
- 14Wat Chedi LuangTemple · Chiang MaiFourteenth-century temple in the old city of Chiang Mai, built around a great ruined chedi. Ajahn Mun spent the 1931 rains retreat here and was asked to become abbot. Daily "monk chats" let visitors talk with young monks.
- 15Wat Muang MangTemple · Chiang MaiCity temple in Chiang Mai where Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo opened what his biography calls the first satipaṭṭhāna vipassana centre in the city in 1954, before moving the work to Wat Ram Poeng.
- 16Wat Phra That Doi SuthepTemple · Chiang MaiThe hilltop temple above Chiang Mai, traditionally dated to 1383, with an International Buddhism Center offering English-language vipassana instruction.
- 17Wat Phra That Si Chom Thong WorawihanTemple · Chom Thong, Chiang MaiA royal temple in Chom Thong district south of Chiang Mai, with a relic chedi and a large vipassana centre where Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo was abbot and which teaches foreign meditators.
- 18Wat Suan DokTemple · Chiang MaiA Chiang Mai temple that houses the Chiang Mai campus of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, whose student monks run Monk Chat and short meditation retreats in English.
North-east Thailand (Isan) · 20
- 19Dhamma BhuvanaMeditation Centre · Warin Chamrap, Ubon RatchathaniA Goenka-tradition Vipassana centre founded in 2023 on farmland in Ubon Ratchathani province. Some of its ten-day courses are open to non-Thai speakers.
- 20Dhamma PunetiMeditation Centre · Udon ThaniA Goenka-tradition Vipassana centre in the hills of Udon Thani province, with its first ten-day course held in June 2016. Its schedule includes ten-day courses open to non-Thai speakers.
- 21Dhamma SuvannaMeditation Centre · Nong Rua, Khon KaenA Goenka-tradition Vipassana centre on forest land near Khon Kaen in north-east Thailand, running ten-day and long courses.
- 22Poo Jom Gom HermitageMonastery · Khong Chiam, Ubon RatchathaniA forest hermitage on the Mekong edge of Pha Taem National Park, founded in 1990 by Ajahn Pasanno as a solitude retreat for the monks of Wat Pah Nanachat. It is a monks' retreat, and no source read describes lay stays.
- 23Thai Plum VillageMonastery · Pak Chong, Nakhon RatchasimaThe Thai centre of Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village community, in Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima. It holds retreats in Vietnamese, English and Thai, and takes registered visitors.
- 24Wat Burapharam, SurinMonastery · SurinTown monastery in Surin where Luang Pu Dun Atulo, one of Ajahn Mun's first two disciples, was abbot from 1934 until he died in 1983. A small museum on the grounds is devoted to him.
- 25Wat Doi DhammachediMonastery · Khok Si Suphan, Sakon NakhonA forest monastery on a rocky hill south of Sakon Nakhon city, founded by Luang Pu Kongma Chirapunyo. Ajahn Maha Bua stayed here after Ajahn Mun's cremation, and Mae Chee Kaew trained with Ajahn Kongma here.
- 26Wat Hin Mak PengMonastery · Si Chiang Mai, Nong KhaiDhammayut forest monastery on the Mekong in Nong Khai Province, where Luang Pu Thet Desaransi (Ajahn Thate), a disciple of Ajahn Mun, lived from 1964 until 1993. He was cremated here in 1996.
- 27Wat Nong Pah PongMonastery · Warin Chamrap, Ubon RatchathaniThe forest monastery in Ubon Ratchathani that grew up around Ajahn Chah from 1954, the mother monastery of his community of more than three hundred branch monasteries.
- 28Wat Pa Baan TaadMonastery · Mueang Udon Thani, Udon ThaniForest monastery near Udon Thani in north-east Thailand, founded by Ajahn Maha Bua in 1955. Ajahn Maha Bua's teachings are available in English books and subtitled talks; the monastery itself works in Thai.
- 29Wat Pa Ban Nong PhueMonastery · Phanna Nikhom, Sakon NakhonForest monastery in Sakon Nakhon where Ajahn Mun spent the last five years of his life before he was taken to Sakon Nakhon city, where he died in 1949. His hut and relics are kept here.
- 30Wat Pa RatanawanMonastery · Wang Nam Khiao, Nakhon RatchasimaLarge forest monastery in the Ajahn Chah tradition on the edge of Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima, led by an Australian-born abbot. It is a training monastery, not a retreat centre.
- 31Wat Pa SalawanMonastery · Nakhon RatchasimaDhammayut forest monastery in Nakhon Ratchasima city, founded in 1932 by Luang Pu Sing Khantayakamo, a disciple of Ajahn Mun. It is a satipaṭṭhāna practice centre that takes overnight meditators.
- 32Wat Pa SukatoMonastery · Kaeng Khro, ChaiyaphumForest monastery on the hills of Kaeng Khro district, Chaiyaphum, where Luang Por Khamkhian Suvanno taught mindfulness of movement in the way of Luang Por Teean. It runs monthly practice courses and is now led by Phra Paisal Visalo.
- 33Wat Pa SutthawatMonastery · Sakon NakhonForest monastery on the edge of Sakon Nakhon city where Ajahn Mun first stayed in 1941 and where he died in 1949. A museum on the grounds holds relics and belongings associated with him.
- 34Wat Pa Udom SomphonMonastery · Phanna Nikhom, Sakon NakhonForest monastery in Phanna Nikhom, Sakon Nakhon, founded by Luang Pu Fan Ajaro, one of Ajahn Mun's disciples. A museum in the grounds holds his ashes and requisites.
- 35Wat Pah NanachatMonastery · Warin Chamrap, Ubon RatchathaniThe International Forest Monastery near Ubon Ratchathani, founded by Ajahn Chah in 1975 for foreign monks. English is its main language, and it takes lay guests who write ahead.
- 36Wat Phu Tok (Wat Chetiyakhiri Vihara)Monastery · Si Wilai, Bueng KanCliff monastery on a sandstone mountain in Bueng Kan, built from the late 1960s by Ajahn Juan Kulajettho, a disciple of Ajahn Mun. Wooden walkways link seven levels of caves and shrines.
- 37Wat Tham Klong PhenMonastery · Nong Bua LamphuForest monastery and cave temple near Nong Bua Lamphu where Luang Pu Khao Analayo, a disciple of Ajahn Mun, lived from 1958 until his death in 1983. A museum holds his requisites.
- 38Mae Chee Kaew Memorial StupaStupa · Kham Cha-ee, MukdahanA memorial stupa beside the forest nunnery at Baan Huay Sai in Mukdahan province, opened in 2006 to honour the nun Mae Chee Kaew. It holds her relics and is a pilgrimage site, not a meditation course centre.
Bangkok and central Thailand · 27
- 39Ajahn Chah Dhamma Heritage Centre, BangkokMeditation Centre · Bang Khen, BangkokThe Bangkok centre of Wat Nong Pah Pong's Dhamma heritage committee, opened in 2002 to keep and distribute Ajahn Chah's teachings. It holds a practice day on the first Saturday of each month, in Thai.
- 40Dhamma Canda PabhaMeditation Centre · Pong Nam Ron, ChanthaburiA Goenka-tradition Vipassana centre in the hills of Chanthaburi province, in eastern Thailand, open since 2013.
- 41Dhamma KamalaMeditation Centre · PrachinburiThe first centre in Thailand teaching Vipassana as taught by S. N. Goenka, in Prachinburi province. It holds ten-day courses taught in English and Thai.
- 42Wat Prayong GittivanaramMeditation Centre · Nong Chok, BangkokMeditation centre in Nong Chok on the eastern edge of Bangkok, where an Austrian nun, Mae Chee Brigitte, teaches Vipassana in English, German and Thai.
- 43Khao Suan Luang Dhamma Community, RatchaburiMonastery · RatchaburiWomen's practice community on a forested hill outside Ratchaburi, founded in 1945 by Upasika Kee Nanayon and her aunt and uncle. The women who live there chant, meditate together and keep a plain life. No public programme was found.
- 44Wat Amphawan, Sing BuriMonastery · Phrom Buri, Sing BuriRiverside temple in Sing Buri where Luang Por Jarun was abbot for nearly sixty years. It runs free lay retreats in the four foundations of mindfulness, in Thai, and holds his remains in a stupa built after his death in 2016.
- 45Wat AsokaramMonastery · Mueang Samut Prakan, Samut PrakanForest monastery in Samut Prakan, on the outskirts of Bangkok, founded by Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo in 1955. A Thai-language Dhammayut monastery with a long breath-meditation tradition.
- 46Wat BoonyawadMonastery · Bo Thong, ChonburiForest monastery in Bo Thong district, Chonburi, founded in 1992 by Ajahn Dtun, a student of Ajahn Chah. It is a branch of Wat Nong Pah Pong with a large community of monks.
- 47Wat DhammamongkolMonastery · Phra Khanong, BangkokA large Dhammayut monastery on Sukhumvit Soi 101 in Bangkok, built in 1963, where Luang Por Viriyang Sirintharo was abbot. It hosts the Willpower Institute, which runs introductory meditation courses in English.
- 48Wat DhammasathitMonastery · RayongDhammayut forest monastery in the hills of Rayong, founded in 1968 on donated land. Ajahn Fuang Jotiko was its abbot from 1971 until his death, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu trained here under him.
- 49Wat Marp JanMonastery · RayongForest monastery in Rayong, on the south-east coast of Thailand, led by Ajahn Anan Akiñcano. A branch of Wat Nong Pah Pong, it has a large community of Thai and Western monks.
- 50Wat NyanavesakavanMonastery · Sam Phran, Nakhon PathomThe Mahā Nikāya monastery in Nakhon Pathom where the scholar-monk P. A. Payutto has been abbot since 1994. Its programmes for lay visitors are in Thai, and its website offers his books and talks to read and hear online.
- 51Wat Paknam BhasicharoenMonastery · Phasi Charoen, BangkokA Bangkok monastery on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya, where Luang Por Sodh taught the meditation method now known as Vijja Dhammakaya. Its own website is in Thai.
- 52Wat Sakae, AyutthayaMonastery · Uthai, Phra Nakhon Si AyutthayaVillage temple in Uthai district, Ayutthaya province, where Luang Pu Doo lived from his ordination in 1925 until he died in 1990. A hall on the grounds displays his belongings.
- 53Wat SanamnaiMonastery · Bang Kruai, NonthaburiTemple in Nonthaburi, on the edge of Bangkok, where Luang Por Teean Cittasubho's method of mindfulness through rhythmic hand movements is taught. It was an abandoned temple until Luang Por Teean and his students revived it in the mid-1970s.
- 54Wat SanghathanMonastery · Bang Phai, NonthaburiA Mahā Nikāya temple in Nonthaburi, revived from an abandoned site by Luang Por Sanong Katapunyo. It teaches satipaṭṭhāna to lay people on short stays, with the programme and the rules set out in Thai.
- 55Wat SongdhammakalyaniMonastery · Nakhon PathomA Theravada monastery of bhikkhunis in Nakhon Pathom, led by Dhammananda Bhikkhuni. It welcomes women for day visits and overnight stays and runs weekly meditation and silent retreats.
- 56Wat Suan KaewMonastery · Bang Yai, NonthaburiA Mahā Nikāya temple in Bang Yai, Nonthaburi, restored from an abandoned temple in the late 1970s by the preacher Phra Payom Kalyano. It holds public Dhamma talks and ordination programmes in Thai and is home to the Suan Kaew Foundation.
- 57Wat Suan Santidham, Si RachaMonastery · Si Racha, ChonburiForest monastery on a hillside in Si Racha, Chonburi, where Luang Pu Pramote Pamojjo lives and teaches. It is open to the public for weekend Dhamma talks, with English interpretation by headset in the main hall, but it does not run courses.
- 58Wat YannasangwararamMonastery · Bang Lamung, ChonburiA large royal monastery near Pattaya begun in 1976 under Somdet Nyanasamvara, who intended it as a vipassana training centre within reach of Bangkok. It has a separate lay meditation site, in Thai.
- 59Wat BoromniwatTemple · BangkokRoyal Thammayut monastery beside Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, founded in 1834. Ajahn Mun was staying here in 1930 when Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo met him and left Bangkok with him.
- 60Wat Bowonniwet ViharaTemple · Phra Nakhon, BangkokThe royal monastery in Bangkok where Prince Mongkut became abbot in 1836, a centre of the Dhammayuttika order and the home of Somdet Nyanasamvara, Thailand's 19th Supreme Patriarch.
- 61Wat Chonprathan RangsaritTemple · Pak Kret, NonthaburiA royal temple in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi, where Panyananda Bhikkhu was abbot from its opening in 1960. It holds Sunday Dhamma talks, weekend practice programmes and monthly ordination, all in Thai.
- 62Wat Mahathat YuwaratrangsaritTemple · Phra Nakhon, BangkokA first-class royal temple near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, with a Buddhist university and a vipassana centre that takes course registrations online.
- 63Wat PathumwanaramTemple · Pathum Wan, BangkokRoyal Thammayut temple in central Bangkok, founded in 1857 by King Mongkut. Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo spent three rains retreats here after joining the Dhammayut order in 1927.
- 64Wat PhoTemple · BangkokOne of Bangkok's oldest royal temples, home to the Reclining Buddha and the historical centre of traditional Thai medicine and massage instruction.
- 65Suan Mokkh Bangkok (Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives)Museum · Chatuchak, BangkokThe Bangkok archive and Dhamma centre for the work of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, beside Chatuchak Park. It holds his talks and books and hosts meditation, lectures and Dhamma activities, mostly in Thai.
Southern Thailand · 3
- 66Dipabhāvan Meditation CenterMeditation Centre · Koh Samui, Surat ThaniA lay retreat centre in the forested hills of Koh Samui that teaches silent retreats in English, in the tradition of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, offered as a gift of Dhamma.
- 67Wat Suan MokkhMonastery · Chaiya, Surat ThaniForest monastery in Chaiya, southern Thailand, founded by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu in 1932. Its International Dharma Hermitage runs monthly ten-day silent retreats taught in English.
- 68Wat Tham Suea (Tiger Cave Temple)Temple · KrabiMountain temple and Vipassana centre outside Krabi, founded in 1975 by Ajahn Jamnian Silasettho. Visitors climb about 1,260 steps to a hilltop Buddha and shrine.