temples

Southern California is filled with gorgeous Buddhist temples, meditation gardens, churches and synagogues that inspire awe.

But those targets are incredibly close to the Baalbek temples and Roman ruins in Tyre, a major port of the Phoenician Empire around 2,500 years ago.

For over two millennia, the Roman temples at Baalbek in eastern Lebanon have stood as some of the finest examples of Roman architecture anywhere in the world.

In Nepal, such statues reside in temples all across the country and are regarded as part of the country's "living culture", rather than mere showpieces, says Sanjay Adhikari, the secretary of the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign.

Nepal has categorised more than 400 artefacts missing from temples and monasteries across the country, but the number is highly likely to be an underestimate, says Saubhagya Pradhananga, who heads the official Department of Archaeology.