Today was a very full day of seeing some incredible Kyoto sights. We started out visiting Kiyumizu-Dera temple, a Buddhist temple complex dating from the 8th century, which is up on a hill with a commanding view out over all of Kyoto. The main hall has a series of huge images of the Buddha, in particular Juichi-men, an 11 headed Kannon figure, among others. The complex also has a holy spring, with water that is considered to bestow long life and health on those who drink from it. You descend down a long flight of stone steps from the main hall and come to the spring where there are three spigots of water flowing into a small pool. Pilgrims go behind the water flows and use long handled metal cups to capture some of the water and drink it while also offering prayers to the Buddha images that are installed just behind the spring. I enjoyed partaking of this holy water, particularly on a hot, blazing 100+ degree day! There is also a Shinto shrine as part of the complex, dedicated to "success in love" which draws people who are eager to insure success in their love lives! The temple complex was packed today because this week is a special festival week in Japanese Buddhism, known as OBon, when they believe that the spirits of their beloved dead relatives return to earth and stay with them for this particular week and then return to the heavens on August 15. So this week, Japanese Buddhists particularly want to go to various temples or shrines to offer prayers.
After we left Kyomizu, we went to Sanjusangendo Hall, also known as the hall of a thousand Buddhas. This temple was built in the 12th century, destroyed by fire and then rebuilt in teh 13th century. It contains 1000 statues of Kannon standing, all carved from Japanese cedar, and each statue having distinctive facial features, and in the middle of the hall housing these sacred statues, is one enormous, giant seated Kannon Buddha image, also made of cedar. This temple is very sacred to Japanese Buddhists, and again, there were hordes of folks there today, many offering candles and incense and prayers as part of the observance of the festival this week. Unfortunately, photography is strictly forbidden in the hall housing the statues, so I was not able to capture this amazing and unique place. It was truly breathtaking to walk through and see rows and rows and rows of ornately carved Buddha statues, (actually I think they are more like Bodhisattvas) and the giant Buddha in the center is really impressive.
From there we went to Nijo Castle, built in the 17th century as the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyesu. It is an extensive castle, with outer rooms where the shogun would receive visitors, and as you go further in the rooms where the shogun would meet with his direct reports, the daimyos from the various districts and finally the private quarters where he resided and was entertained by his harem of geishas. We also walked into the castle gardens which are extensive and quite beautiful. It was very hot today, though so we made the garden visit a short one. In the middle of the day it is really too uncomfortable to be out in the sun for more than a few minutes!
After visiting the castle, we went to lunch at a restaurant at Kyoto University. It looked like their version of a Faculty Club. It was very elegant and quiet and we had a delicious French lunch.
After lunch we went to Kinkakuji Temple, also known as the Golden Pavilion originally built in the 14th century for a shogun and made into a Buddhist temple by his son. It was burned to the ground in the early 1950s by a monk who was obsessed with it and then it was carefully and exactly reconstructed like the 14th century original. It is covered in 24 karat gold leaf and sits in the middle of a reflecting pond, surrounded by gardens. There is a very simple tea ceremony house on the grounds, which is 400 years old and living quarters for monks. The place was packed today. Our guide who has been doing this work for many years said she has never seen such crowds there. Again, Obon seems to be the cause of the increased attendance at all these holy places.
After we returned to the hotel our guide offered to go to dinner with a few of us and we went to a Japanese pub for yakitori, which is basically the Japanese version of kabobs. The meal was delicious. After dinner, our guide and I walked back to the Nijo Castle to see a light show that they were doing as part of the Obon festival. It only lasted about 10 minutes (and it was also packed!) but it was really worth it. They projected light images all over the front of the castle building and it was really stunning. Music played while they did the pyrotechnics with the lights. As we were leaving the grounds there were all kinds of stalls and vendors there selling wares and food. We stopped at a sake tasting tent and enjoyed a few sips of different kinds of sake before walking back to the hotel. It was fun to see all the young Japanese kids wearing their summer kimonos to the festival. Both girls and boys wear them and they really look terrific in them.
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