Day 2: Kiyomizu-dera
This is the fifth of 14 posts in the ongoing series Japan 2009.
After we managed to find the main roads again we grabbed the Rakuten bus (that day pass was becoming really useful) and headed back south a bit. We both wanted to revisit one of Kyōto's most famous temples, Kiyomizu-dera, the Pure Water Temple.
Looking back at the city of Kyōto. The photo was actually taken in a large parking lot where busses stop and let off their tour groups. From there you walk to the temple grounds.
Like Ginkaku-ji, you approach the temple by climbing up a street lined with vendors and shops.
At times the street narrowed and everyone would have to walk up single file while a stream of cars slowly crawled down the hill. At other times the crowds would pass and you would be the only person walking.
Finally, we reached the temple grounds. The Ro-mon, the Red Gate, stands at the top of the street. To its left is the Sanjunoto pagoda.
Kyōto seen through the Sanjunoto pagoda.
There are a total of eighteen buildings in Kiyomizu-dera.
Visitors write wishes and prayers on these wooden plaques, called ema. They are hung for the spirits that visit the temple to receive them.
Before approaching the altars, visitors stop at a tsukubai. You rinse your hands and mouth with the fresh water to purify yourself.
The main Hōndō hall and the Amidado—Amida Buddha Hall—are dramatically built against the hillside.
At this point someone in your group invariably mentions that these buildings were constructed in the eighth century without the use of nails, and everyone starts to get a little nervous.
The Otawa no Taki spring, the reason for Kiyomizu-dera's name. It's said that drinking from one of the waterfalls grants long life, another grants intelligence, and the final beauty.
I have no idea which is which, actually. I don't even remember which I drank from five years ago.
Must have been beauty.
The Hōndō main hall. You leave your shoes at the deck before approaching the altars inside.
Ava takes a moment to sit on the deck of the main hall.
Another tsukubai, nestled next to the Amidado.
From the deck outside the Hōndō main hall.
It was getting late, and we made our way back down to the city.
The sun was setting on our first full day in Japan, but there was one more thing in Kyōto we wanted to check out before the day was over…