Hawaii - Byodo-In Temple - Left

Located at the foot of the 2,000 foot Kolau Mountains in the Valley of the Temples in Oʻahu's Kaneohe Region sits the beautiful Byodo-In Temple.

While always a popular stop for visitors, the Byodo-In Temple has become more popular since it was used as a filming location in the first season of the ABC Emmy Award winning series Lost, where it served as the home of the Korean woman Sun's powerful father.

The Byodo-In Temple was built in the 1960's to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant workers in Hawaii who came to work in the sugar plantation fields. It is a replica of the 950-year-old Byodoin Temple located in Uji, Japan on the outskirts of Kyoto.

The Temple is built to represent the mythical phoenix, its wings upheld by pillars of stone. Folklore tells of the phoenix rising out of the ashes to reflect the promises of hope and renewal. The Boyodo-In is home to Amida, a golden Buddha unique to the entire world.

The Hall is popularly know as Hoo-do, or the Phoenix Hall, because a pair of the legendary birds of Chinese origins and being a good omen are perched on both ends of the roof with their wings spread and ready to fly away.