Located in at the end of a remote corner of Ohara valley, Jakko-in was founded in 594 by prince Shotoku as a temple dedicated to the memory of his father Emperor Yomei. Jakko-in is thus a very old temple, but as usual few original buildings remain today. Recently, in 2000, a fire destroyed the main hall and seriously damaged the main icon of this temple, a statue of the jizo bodhisattva that is said to have been created by the founder himself. Only a copy is visible now, the remains of the original are kept deep in the temple. The fire also made a fatal blow to a thousand year old cherry tree which died shortly after in 2004.
Unfortunately my visit was so close to the closing time and I haven't had much time. From other pictures found here and there, the temple appears to be at its best in autumn (surprise, surprise!) On the way up to the main hall, there's a small pond with a tea house on your right. The main hall itself was recently built, which is obvious due to its very clear wood colours. The large iron lantern in front of the main hall is coming from Momoyama Castle (which fell after a historic siege in 1600).
Jakko-in being a bit less interesting and difficult to access compared to the other temples of Ohara, it is better to visit it after the other "big three": Hosen-in (宝泉院), Jikko-in (実光院) and Sanzen-in (三千院) Recommended for: Access: 600 円 Nearby: Keitoku-in 桂德院 (260m) External links: Website, ウィキペディア, Kyoto Navi, Trip Advisor, Kyoto Design, 京都風光, Inside Kyoto, Marutake, そうだ京都, Satellite view, Map Keywords: Japan, 日本, Japon, Kyoto, 京都, Ohara, 寂光院, temple, Jakko-in, 寺院, 仏閣 Statistics: visited on 4 occasions, id 305, 11 photos (14 extra photos can be found in the archive). |
