Japan, Day 7: Two temples

After our lunch, we spent the next few hours exploring the streets of Kyoto. We never strayed too far from the railway station and managed to stumble across two old temples. The first was the Higashi Honganji, an oasis of calm within busy Kyoto. It is a rather enormous Buddhist temple with a long history dating back to the 17th Century.  

Because we were walking from the direction of the Kyoto rail station, we entered the temple complex from the first gate we came across. The wooden doors were heavy, ornate and impressive! This turned out to be a secondary entrance but never mind, it still impressed me enough!

And inside the courtyard were their two most impressive main structures - the Founder's Hall on the right and the Amida Hall on the left. This temple had survived fires several times and the present structures were rebuilt in 1895.

Taking centre stage was, of course, the Founder's Hall where an image of the temple's Shin Buddhism founder, Shinran, is enshrined. The hall is one of the largest wooden structures in the world, measuring 76 metres long, 58 metres wide and 38 metres high.

To the left of the Founder's Hall is the Amida Hall which holds an image of Amida Buddha along with an image of Prince Shōtoku who introduced Buddhism to Japan. 

My eyes hurt when I entered the Amida Hall. Everything was so bright and no wonder: the hall was decorated with gold leaf.

It's possible to explore the grounds, walk the corridors and use the quiet halls for some quiet reflection. Chairs were lined up in files for visitors. However, photography wasn't allowed and the guards would admonish anyone that dared to bring out a camera or mobile phone.

Next, we came across the smaller Koshoji Temple a short distance away. Found it by accident through more aimless walking, although we had the presence of mind to keep the Kyoto Tower within sight. This temple is not as well known as the Higashi Honganji we visited earlier. Nevertheless, it has its fair share of visitors when we were there. As I don't have much information about the place, maybe it's best to share some photos instead.