Sanjusangen-do - Kyoto, Japan
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denben
N 34° 59.272 E 135° 46.321
53S E 570459 N 3871970
Sanjusangen-do is a Buddhist temple in the Higashiyama District of Kyoto, Japan.
Waymark Code: WMZAHM
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Date Posted: 10/09/2018
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Officially known as "Rengeo-in" (Hall of the Lotus King), Sanjusangen-do belongs to and is run by the Myoho-in temple, a part of the Tendai school of Buddhism. The temple name literally means Hall with thirty three spaces between columns, describing the architecture of the long main hall of the temple.
Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181) built the original temple in 1164 on request of the retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. The temple burnt to the ground in 1249 and was faithfully reconstructed in 1266.
The main deity of the temple is Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokitesvara or the Thousand Armed Kannon. The statue of the main deity was created by the Kamakura sculptor Tankei and is a National Treasure of Japan. The temple also contains one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon which stand on both the right and left sides of the main statue in 10 rows and 50 columns. Of these, 124 statues are from the original temple, rescued from the fire of 1249, while the remaining 876 statues were constructed in the 13th century. The statues are made of Japanese cypress clad in gold leaf. The temple is 120 - meter long. Around the 1000 Kannon statues stand 28 statues of guardian deities. There are also two famous statues of Fujin and Raijin.
Note that photographs are prohibited inside.
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