Benalmádena Buddhist temple: The biggest in the West, in Spain's far south

EXPLORING Buddhist temples is usually a staple on the tourist trail in far-eastern countries, such as China, Thailand, and Myanmar, and these splendid, colourful and intricate buildings, radiating peace inside and out, always make for highly photogenic subjects for long-haul holiday snaps.

Buddhism originated in Asia over 2,500 years ago, and it is this vast, culturally-rich continent we usually associate with the calming, healing religion and its elaborately-designed, eye-catching places of worship. But a small handful of temples have been set up elsewhere in the world, including in Europe – not to such an extent as those of other world religions, such as mosques, churches or synagogues, although if you search thoroughly enough, you'll find one somewhere in Europe or the Americas to capture for your social media sites.

In fact, the biggest Buddhist temple in the whole of the West is in Spain – and, again, right on the tourism trail. 

You'll find it on the Costa del Sol, where it's been attracting visitors for over two decades.

Spiritual enlightenment at the turn of the Millennium

Spain's first Buddhist temple to pop up was also on the Costa del Sol, in Vélez-Málaga, meaning at least two are now based in the same province.

Some 30 or 40 years ago, eastern culture began to catch on in the country, more and more residents were keen to learn about it, becoming interested in the notion of meditation, harmony and relaxation, and drawn to Buddhism as potential source of comfort and stress relief, a fresh outlook on life, a simpler way of viewing the world and of coping within it.

This growing fascination led Buddhist master Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche to commission a temple in Spain's far south and, after its opening in 1994, it would serve as inspiration and a blueprint for another 18 he founded worldwide.

Number 19 would become the largest outside Asia – the Temple of Enlightenment, or Stupa of Illumination (Estupa de la Iluminación or, in Tibetan, Chan Chub Chorten) in Benalmádena, Málaga province.

Here, Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche's disciples set up the Benalmádena Kagyü Karma Cultural Association, running spiritual workshops and similar activities to raise the profile of Buddhism and fund the temple's maintenance.

Three years after the Estupa de la Iluminación was built and the Cultural Association formed, in 2003 – the year of Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche's death - the stupa was formally recognised as a Buddhist place of worship, teaching, reflection and meditation. This meant it could then legitimately call itself a 'temple', rather than a 'community centre' or a club or society headquarters.

As well as being the biggest outside Asia, what else makes it unique?

Benalmádena's lofty, bright-white and artfully-designed temple, with its giant dome and gold spire, is particularly unusual – and not just due to its enormous dimensions.

With a 25.8-metre-wide (84'8”) base, and standing 33 metres (108'3”) tall, the 'Illumination' temple is large enough to house a 100-square-metre (1,076-square-foot) hall inside it.

Why is this unusual, though?

Because Buddhist temples are, generally, closed monuments rather than actual buildings; practitioners march around the outside whilst voicing their hopes, desires and innermost feelings, instead of going inside it in the way worshippers would with a church, synagogue or mosque.

That makes the Benalmádena centre unique, as Buddhist followers undertake their prayer and meditation rituals within its walls and under its roof, not merely in its grounds.

Given that Buddhist temples are typically closed-off monuments, it is not common to find decorative or sacred objects inside them – at least, not on full view to the public.

Yet the Estupa de la Iluminación guards treasures even the most vivid of imaginations would struggle to invent: Half a tonne of Buddhist prayers, for a start.

Measuring prayers by the tonne sounds like a juxtaposition of terms already – rather like being able to smell a picture or hear a colour – but they're all written on sheets of paper made from cotton fibre and, stacked up, weigh as much as a large horse.

And even the longest series of novels you've ever read would take up a fraction of the shelf space that the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni occupy – a whole 108 volumes line the walls.

Nature has its place there, too. A tree, right inside, standing l7 metres (55'9”) tall, is said to represent the backbone of Buddha.

Add to this over 600 sacred images sculpted from clay, and dozens of ancient relics transported from the Himalayas, and you could easily lose half a day touring and admiring the temple's interior.

The ground floor, that is. You'd need another half day to explore the lower-ground floor, where comprehensive exhibitions on Tibetan Buddhism, Himalayan culture and pictures of other Buddhist temples on every continent will open your eyes onto a completely new world and global community.

Meditation sessions, and conferences about Buddhist philosophy, among other, similar activities, are organised weekly for visitors.

Other Buddhist temples in Spain

If you're based on the east coast, you may well have heard of the Buddhist centre in Pedreguer, northern Alicante province, founded by Hollywood actor Richard Gere – a huge, wine-red building in a very modern Mediterranean architectural style close to an urbanisation of hillside villas and a golf course. 

The Pedreguer centre is not so much a visitor attraction for its interior décor, but is very much a working cultural hub which runs courses on meditation, mindfulness and Buddhist philosophy, and is striking enough from the outside to merit a photo or several.

Far more east-Asian-looking, the Dag Shang Kagyü Buddhist Centre in Panillo, near Huesca, the northernmost provincial capital in Aragón and at the foot of the Pyrénées, resembles an ornate pagoda of the type seen in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, China or Japan, with its gold relief on white, red pillars, triangular roof, fountains, and Himalayan and Tibetan sculptures.

The Dag Shang Kagyü centre runs day sessions and retreats, courses in Tibetan Buddhism practices based upon visualisation, meditation and recitation, yoga classes, and chi kun – a therapeutic form of exercise originating in China.

Founded by popular demand by an association of Spaniards who keenly followed Buddhist philosophy, the Huesca temple reportedly gets over 15,000 visitors every year – many of them for sightseeing, not just for taking part in courses and retreats.