The Museum of World Religions (世界宗教博物館) is a museum in Yonghe District, New Taipei City, Taiwan.[1]
The museum was founded by Venerable Hsin Tao (心道), a Buddhist monk, and set up through the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Foundation. The museum building was designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates,[2] the designer of major American museums including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC and the expansion of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.[3]
The Museum of World Religions was opened in 2001 by Hsin Tao. Further elaborate opening ceremonies were held on September 11th and in November 2002 with many religious leaders and others from around the world, including the President Chen Shui-bian.[3] The Taiwanese architect and educator Han Pao-teh was the first curator.
The museum presents exhibits on ten different major world religions. It also features a model called "Avatamsaka World" illustrating the Avatamsaka Sutra.