Kyoto during Sakura Season - Part 4: Kiyomizu dera

Kiyomizu-dera is one of Japan's most popular sites and one of the most famous in Kyoto. It is an independent Buddhist temple of the Goddess of Mercy and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007. Kiyomizu means "Temple of Clear Water".

Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period in 798 and is located halfway up the Otowa mountain. Since then, like many other buildings in Kyoto, it was burned down many times over the years. Its present buildings were rebuilt in 1633, by shogun Tokugama Iemitsu. A shogun is basically a high ranking general and pretty much ruled Japan back in those days.

The entrance of Kiyomizu-dera is the Deva gate and the 3 storey pagoda.

There were many MANY people also visiting Kiyomizu-dera that day. But look at all the pretty ladies in kimono. It is particularly beautiful when the sakura are in full bloom.

The best part of Kiyomizu-dera is the Main Hall, which has the large veranda that's supported by tall pillars that hangs over the hillside and offers amazing views of Kyoto. The 12m high keyaki pillars were built without a single nail and 410 cypress floor boards.

As we entered the hall, there was a crowd of people surrounding this area. It turned out it contained several metal objects, 1 pair of metal sandals and 2 metal rods. People were lining up to try and lift each object. The purpose of this is to demonstrate your strength and your worthiness of protecting the temple. Here's Matt's turn. He lifted the sandals and one of the 2 rods with 1 hand with ease, but could not lift the heaviest rod. People all around him were in awe when he lifted the lighter rod with 1 hand. We didn't see anyone else do that. Sugoi!

Picture of Matt and I on the veranda:

These pictures were taken from the other side of the mountain.

Views of Kyoto:

 

My turn at drinking the cleansing water using a ladle. How could I resist - the water came out of a dragon's mouth! It must be PURE.

 

Another popular site is the Otowa waterfall, where visitors can drink the water from a ladle. We chose not to do that, despite the fact the cups were sanitized by UV light. Right.

 

 

And finally, our trip to Kiyomizu-dera wouldn't be complete without visiting the little stone buddhas in their aprons: 



 

or the other 3 storey pagoda (that no one talks about):

 

 



An eventful day so far, but still not over yet. Ginkaku-Ji is next.