The Little Book of Kyoto by Ben Simmons

Author:Ben Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

A procession of Shinto priests with sturdy oilpaper bangasa umbrellas.

The sacred Honden, Kamigamo’s Main Sanctuary Hall, is a National Treasure.

Kinkaku-ji Temple

Kinkaku-ji, renowned for its Golden Pavilion, was originally an aristocrat’s estate that was expanded by Shogun Yoshimitsu Ashikaga as a retirement villa in 1397. Converted into a Zen Buddhist temple after his death, Kinkaku-ji is now a World Heritage Site and perhaps Kyoto’s most famous landmark. Increasingly large numbers of admirers trooping through the temple’s traditional gate can resemble a theme park entrance at times, but once inside the spacious earthen-walled compound, Kinkaku-ji’s extensive and beautifully landscaped gardens do offer room to breathe. Mount Kinugasa provides an expansive natural backdrop of classic shakkei “borrowed scenery,” enhancing the sense of spaciousness.

The upper two stories of the Golden Pavilion, a storehouse for sacred relics, are covered with pure gold leaf. The elegant structure reflecting in Kyokochi Pond is a glowing wonder in afternoon sunlight, like molten gold mixed with the mesmerizing colors of a campfire. Drawing steady streams of visitors even under drab or rainy skies, a rare snowfall accentuates the pavilion’s smoldering incandescence enough to cause a photographic frenzy at Kinkaku-ji. The temple’s chronology is also attracting growing attention after the recent excavation of a gilt bronze fragment near Kinkaku-ji’s tour bus parking lot. Archeologists hope the discovery may prove the existence of the shogun’s legendary pagoda, Kitayamaoto, hypothesized to have towered over 328 feet (100 meters) as the tallest wooden structure in Japan’s history.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.