Kiyomizu-Dera Temple in Kyoto

entrance_to_kiyomizudera_temple
Nio-Man (Deva Gate) and Sanju-no-To (Three Storied Pagoda).

01_kiyomizudera_temple_sakura
Girls dressed up and getting their photos taken by the sakura (cherry blossoms).

02_kiyomizudera_temple_ema
These are ema, or prayer boards. You can buy them for a small fee. Then you write your prayer or wish and hang them up.

03_kiyomizudera_temple_mizugo-kannon-do_aborted_fetus_temple_dedicated_to_the_goddess_of_mercy
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what this was. I thought it so curious that the figure is holding what appears to be a baby. After some research, I’m concluding that this is Mizugo-Kannon-Do (Aborted Fetus Temple dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy). Sounds kind of strange, but this temple, and others we went to, also have Jizo, which are small statues offered by parents to temples when a child is stillborn, miscarried or aborted.

04_kiyomizudera_temple_deva_gate
Looking back towards the Deva Gate and the city of Kyoto.

05_kiyomizudera_temple_sakura_kyoto_view
Great view of the big sakura tree and Kyoto.

06_kiyomizudera_temple_koyasu-no_easy_childbirth_pagoda
Off in the distance is Koyasu-No (Easy Childbirth Pagoda).

07_kiyomizudera_temple_koyasu_no_easy_childbirth_pagoda
We could see this pagoda way off in the distance. I thought it must be huge and couldn’t wait to get to it.

08_kiyomizudera_temple_hon-do_main_hall
This is pretty much the classic shot of Kiyomizu-Dera whenever you look it up. This is Hon-Do, the Main Hall. The wooden stage juts out from the main hall and is where I took the two previous photos from. The interesting thing about the Kiyomizu Stage is that it was built without using a single nail! 12-meter high pillars were assembled and the floor was installed using 410 cypress boards, but not one nail was used.

09_kiyomizudera_temple_hon_do_main_hall
Another view of the main hall and stage.

10_kiyomizudera_temple_view_kyoto_tower
Great view of Kyoto and Kyoto Tower

11_kiyomizudera_temple_dallas
Dallas

12_kiyomizudera_temple_girls
Some girls dressed up and looking pretty.

13_kiyomizudera_temple_koyasu_no_pagoda_easy_childbirth_pagoda
So, we finally got to Koyasu-No Pagoda and it was tiny! You can see a guy on the right bending out. I think he was doing some work inside. I thought this thing was going to be HUGE, and it wasn’t!

14_kiyomizudera_temple_otowa-no_taki_otowa_falls
We walked down to Otowa Waterfall, at the base of the Main Hall. Three channels of water fall into a pond. You can catch and drink the water and it’s supposed to have wish-granting powers. Each stream’s water is said to have different benefit – longevity, success at school, and fortunate love life. It is considered greedy to drink from all three!

15_kiyomizudera_temple_wall
Dallas was impressed with how these walls were built with the stones.

16_kiyomizudera_temple_couple
Saw this couple posing and couldn’t resist taking their photo.

17_kiyomizudera_temple_fan_store
Walking back down Otowa Mountain, from the temple. There are a ton of stores and snack shops. This store specialized in fans, obviously.

18_kiyomizudera_temple_walking
I found the architecture and the street really interesting. Actually, I didn’t realize at the time, but I really loved the buildings in Kyoto.

Kiyomizu-Dera_Temple_map

When we were planning our trip to Kyoto, I really wanted to go to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, because… hello!???! they covered the freaking building in pure gold leaf!? But I started reading how you couldn’t actually go in the temple and how Kiyomizu-Dera Temple is one of the most celebrated temples in all of Japan and how it has expansive grounds with many different things. On the night before we left for Kyoto, we asked Tandy and Chris what their top Kyoto recommendations were and Chris for sure said Kiyomizo-Dera. He said the Golden Pavilion is a place people feel like they have to see, just because they’re there, but that Kiyomizo-Dera is definitely better. So, after lunch, we headed to Kiyomizo-Dera, only a few steps away!

Kiyomizo-Dera is located halfway up Otowa Mountain. It’s a pretty easy walk up, not too steep, and the street is not accessible to cars and is lined with all kinds of shops. The temple dates back to 778, but burned down many times. Most of it was rebuilt during the Edo period, 1631-1633. Still pretty old! The main hall is designated as a national treasure. Kyomizu-Dera means “temple of the clear water” and was named after Otowa Waterfall. The water originates from a spring in the mountain and has been falling there pretty much forever.

Some of the buildings at Kiyomizo-Dera are under construction right now, but there was still plenty to see. We spent a few hours walking around and admiring the grounds and gates and buildings. There was more sukura in bloom in Kyoto than in Tokyo and it was so pretty! We also noticed that in Kyoto, it seemed like a “thing” to dress traditionally. We saw many women in yukatas (or maybe kimonos?).

The weather was gorgeous and I really enjoyed walking around Kiyomizo-Dera, although by the end Dallas was “templed out,” since we’d just spent hours at Senso-ji the day before!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *