DAY 10, Apr 21 Sun 2024:

Kyoto Arashiyama, Togetsu-kyo bridge, Bamboo grove, Hōgon-in, Tenryū-ji, Kōgen-ji Temple, Sanjūsangen-dō

Arashiyama is a scenic district in the outskirts of Kyoto

Arashiyama (嵐山, Storm Mountain) is a mountain across the Ōi River (大堰川, Ōi-gawa), which forms a backdrop to the district also called Arashiyama. It is a nationally designated Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty.

We took a bus and landed near the iconic river bridge

The "Moon Crossing Bridge" (渡月橋, Togetsukyō)

It was originally built during the Heian Period (794-1185) and most recently reconstructed in the 1930s.

Pedicabs are a tourist attraction

Hōgon-in

We bought a combo ticket for 2 temples Kōgen-ji and Hogon-in.

Hogon-in Temple in Arashiyama, is a Buddhist sub-temple of the Rinzai Zen head temple, Tenryu-ji.

The temple was founded in 1461

Fusuma

fusuma (襖) are sliding panels traditionally painted. There was a special fee to see these.

The garden is lovely... more special in fall of course

Arashiyama Rakans

Statues of Disciples of Buddha are in the garden and just outside as well... all with different postures and expressions.

Buddha's disciples statues...

Go-hyaku Rakan

statues of the 500 most devoted disciples of Buddha, stand near Tenryu-ji Temple at Arashiyama

Kōgen-ji

Kōgen-ji Temple

Wisteria

We took the bus back and we talked to the driver, he suggested us to get down at a particular station and take the local train to Kyoto Station because that would be faster for us. We did so and reached Kyoto Station. From there we took a bus and reached Sanjūsangen-dō

Sanjūsangen-dō (三十三間堂, Temple of thirty-three bays)officially known as Rengeō-in (蓮華王院, hall of the Lotus King)

A temple built by the famous warlord Taira no Kiyomori for Emperor Go-Shirakawa in 1164, Sanjūsangen-dō is primarily famous for its 1,001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of compassion in her thousand-armed incarnation, lined up along the entire length of the thirty-three ken (unit of measurement) hall from which the temple gets its moniker.

The temple complex used to be larger until a fire decimated it and only the main hall was rebuilt, but visitors are more than satisfied with the impressive contents of the long wooden structure. Not only is the hall filled with the golden faces of a thousand Kannon statues, but another 28 sculptures of Buddhist guardian deities are also featured in the front row.

The hall itself shows its age in the many arrow notches that can be found in the wood on the edge of the building, marks of the Tōshiya archery competition once held at the temple hundreds of years ago.

Arranged in ten rows and fifty columns on each side of the hall, the thousand statues of Kannon are made of Japanese cypress covered in gold leaf.

Of these, 124 are originals from the temple’s founding that were saved from destruction in a 1249 fire, while the rest were replaced in the 13th century.

The thousand human-sized statues flank a much larger statue of the deity that serves as the principal object of worship and is also a National Treasure. The thousand-armed Kannon is said to have eleven heads to better see the suffering of mankind, and one thousand arms to save everyone in need. Though the wooden statues only have 42 arms, each holds a different item or is posed in a Buddhist symbolic gesture