Hogon-in (宝厳院) was built in 1461 as a sub-temple of Tenryu-ji by Hosokawa Toriyuki, a member of the government of the Muromachi shogun. The temple was originally built in on expansive grounds in the Kamigyo-ku district of Kyoto (上京区, now the centre of the city). Like many temples in Kyoto, it was damaged by the fires of the Onin war. It was later reconstructed in the late 16th century, only to be moved to its present location in Arashiyama in the Meiji period.
The pamphlet says that the temple large zen garden, called "the garden of the lion's roar", was created by a zen priest in the Muromachi period. This is slightly puzzling, as the temple was later burn down and moved to two successive locations. How did they move the garden without changing it? Mystery... The garden is a nice place to stroll and has some unique features such as the cobblestones dry landscape, near the entrance.
The temple enshrines 33 statues of Kannon, which are said to be "as efficient" as the "traditional 33-stop Kannon pilgrimage route". Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency... In front of the temple entrance is another set of statues called the Arashiyama Arhats (Arhats are not strange hats, they were the closest and highest disciples of Buddha). The texts say that there were 500 Arhats; if you have the time you can check if the count is right... Recommended for: Access: 500 円 Nearby: the Yusa-tei 祐斎亭 (270m), Kōgen-ji 弘源寺 (270m), the Bamboo alley 嵯峨竹林 (320m), Nonomiya-jinja 野宮神社 (360m), Shōkaku-ji 正覚寺 (420m), the Okochi Sansō villa 大河内山荘 (460m), Rinsen-ji 臨川寺 (490m), Furoan フロアン (600m), Senkō-ji 千光寺 (620m), Hōrin-ji 法輪寺 (620m),... External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, arashiyama, 嵐山, Tenryu-ji, temple, 天龍寺, UNESCO world heritage, 寺院, 仏閣, Hogon-in, subtemple, 塔頭 Statistics: visited on 5 occasions, id 272, 24 photos (17 extra photos can be found in the archive). |
