Wednesday, August 09, 2017

Day 4 - Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe Trip 2017 - Higashi Honganji Temple, Kyoto

After checking out our our hotel, we left our bags at the reception and do some sightseeing before heading to Osaka by train. We decided to visit Higashi Honganji Temple which is located just behind our hotel, took us less than 5 minutes to reach there from our hotel. It was free admission.

Nishi Honganji (West Honganji) was built in 1591 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, after the sect's former head temple, Ishiyama Honganji in Osaka had been destroyed by Oda Nobunaga due to the temple's interference in politics. Nishi Honganji is the head temple of the Honganji faction of the Jodo-Shin sect with over 10,000 subtemples across the country and 200 temples overseas. Nishi Honganji's two largest structures are the Goeido Hall, dedicated to Shinran, the sect's founder, and the Amidado Hall dedicated to the Amida Buddha, the most important Buddha in Jodo-Shin Buddhism. The temple also displays some surviving masterpieces of architecture from the Azuchi-Momoyama Period and early Edo Period, including the celebrated Hiunkaku Pavilion. Nishi Honganji is designated an UNESCO world heritage site. Read more from source.

The temples were very beautiful and big, looked very serene and peaceful.

Need to remove shoes and put in the plastic bag they provided, and carry the plastic bag along with us.

There's even a place for those who brought along luggages to park and lock them at the front of the temples. No photography allowed inside the temple's halls.

Hair ropes, made from human hair mixed with hemp and used in that construction, were donated by parishioners from all over the country.

Able to view Kyoto Tower from the temple's ground.

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