walking tour pictures
Three storied pagoda. Sorry, I’m not in the mood to rotate it. Have fun 😉
Childbirth Pagoda. I don’t need to explain, the name of the structure says it all.
There was even a shrine for love, relationships, and marriage. It’s called the Jishu shrine. I realized I have a lot of pictures so I’ll limit it for now. Especially since I haven’t touched upon Kodaiji. Again there are different structures for Jishu shrine just like the temple.
One of the structures within Jishu shrine. There’s a dragon on the ceiling.
Sadly, taking photos of the Main Hall is prohibited. There were several buildings under construction.
A breath-taking view from afar.
This is the Otowa waterfall.
There are three small streams falling, each stream representing a different benefit. Long poles with cups at the end are provided to that visitors can drink the water. Don’t worry, there is an apparatus next to the structure that sterilizes each cup.
One amazing fact is that Kiyomizudera was not created with a single nail. I’m also amazed that these wooden structures have survived over a millenium. Yeah, over a millenium if it was founded in the late 8th century. But, there are some structures build in the 1600s I can’t remember which ones and why.
After Kiyomizudera, I quickly dropped by to see the Yasaka pagoda. Regrettably, I was too early because for only 400 yen you can enter the shrine and climb the 5 stories. Maybe next time.
Yasaka Pagoda
Now the Kodaiji aand it’s sub-temple Entokuin. Kodaiji was built to remember Hideyoshi Toyotomi while Entokuin was built to remember his wife, Nene.
Zen Garden
Again, most of the buildings prohibit photo-taking. That restriction is made up because visitors are able to step inside the buildings. They’re pretty incredible. There was also a structure dedicated to Hideyoshi’s parents. I only know this because the tour guide, although speaking completely in Japanese, said words I recognized. Yay?
The Entokuin temple also prohibits photos from being taken, but I feel that it’s definitely the right choice because the paintings on the walls and doors are stunningly beautiful and breathtaking There was a picture of a white dragon across several door panels. At first it didn’t seem intimidating, but as I continued to admire the artwork, I started to feel intimidated and awed by its greatness. I believe it was called the Hakuryu.
Small pond in Kodaiji.
Afterwards I dropped by two smaller temples, the Rokuharamitsuji and the Rokudouchinnoji. The former was under construction while the latter was open. I don’t know anything about them. D:
I was exhausted by then. Just visiting a few temples and shrines took about 5 hours. I don’t know how I’ll manage the rest.
Yasaka Shrine in the early morning. I thought I would have time to visit it
Kamo River
There was so much to see and do that I most probably left things out. Okay, maybe a lot of things.
