Religion Is Everywhere In Naples

Nobody does religious icons like the Catholics in Italy. OK, maybe Hindus in India bring it. Iconography is all over Naples, in churches, street side, alley shrines, in glass cases, everywhere. Don't even throw in the biggest saint, football star Maradona.

Everybody puts their favorite saint in a box. Here's Santi Domenico Soriano e Nunzio Sulprizio.

The Virgin Mary, getting dramatic. Upward lighting and plastic flowers do the trick. The handmade, casual shrines tucked into walls along streets are great. They are always a hodgepodge installation, a mix of icons, candles, offerings, and pics of those lost and remembered.

Another box, another saint. Looks tough. And cramped.

Jesus in a box details, gotta get the stigmata right.

No place is inappropriate for a shrine. Here is a little one, plopped on the retaining rocks in the harbor.

Finding Your God In Gua Charas Cave

Malaysia loves its caves. For good reason. There are a handful of impressive ones to explore, featuring giant chambers of wonderment, maybe filled with a million bats or so.

For Gua Charas cave, religious devotees laid claim, constructed temples and shrines and got to praying.

On the approach, an impressive limestone outcropping looms over palm plantations. Cave within.

Inside, many, expansive areas. No need to crawl or duck. First up for god are the Indians and they have a small temple devoted to various Bodhisattvas. Nice lingam.

Farther into the cave, the main attraction is a reclining Buddha. Same holy idea, different religion. The big boy has a nice feel, kind of like a hidden movie set, all lit up.

Ready for his closeup. Back at the Indian temple, pensive monkey god.

Another part of the cave, another Buddhist set piece. Glowing.

The Curious Erawan Museum In Thailand

Hmm. A giant three-headed elephant sculpture atop a cupcake of a museum, becoming a landmark from the highways in Bangkok. Fantastic!

The big boys. Most people don't realize the site is more than a sculpture.

Around the base of the Erawan Museum, plenty more elephants, brightly painted and all lined up.

The museum is another extravaganza from businessman Lek Viriyaphant. He needed a storage space for his artifact collection. Naturally, something with a three-headed elephant sculpture made of bronze and 29 meters tall.

Inside the pedestal, a re-creation of the Hindu universe. Complicated.

Curvy. Upstairs, an interpretation of Hindu heaven.

Another angle of the bronze beast.