Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and home to over 1600 temples and shrines, constructed thousands of years ago. There are 16 UNESCO world heritage sites in the city. It is the most religiously significant city in Japan, called the city of temples. In the Best temples in Kyoto – Part 1, we bought the details about Golden Temple, Sliver Temple, Kiyomizudera, Honganji, and Fushimi Inari Shrine. In addition, here we have pointed out the more beautiful ancient temples we visited during our stay in Kyoto city.
1. Toji Temple
Located southwest of Kyoto Station, Toji Temple is the highest wooden structure in Japan. Standing at 55 m in height this is the tallest pagoda in whole Japan. It created in 794 as the guardian temple for the city after Kyoto was established as the imperial capital in the country.
The existing five-storied pagoda is rebuilt after it burnt down during civil wars. For instance, it has actually burned down four times in its history, and the last time it was rebuilt in 1644. This five-storied pagoda of Toji temple is eternally loved as the symbol of Kyoto city.
Above all, this elegant tall pagoda soars above the rooftops of southern Kyoto and can be seen from far. You can see it even from the Shinkansen (Bullet train) as you are traveling to Kyoto city.
The ground floor of the pagoda is occasionally opened to the public. It houses four Buddha statues and many colorful wall paintings. As well as, the thousands of years old giant statues inside the ground floor marvel all the visitors.
There are three main halls in the temple complex including the main Kondo hall, Kodo hall, and Miedo hall.
We walked passing these ancient halls completely made of wooden. It was an amazing sight to witness these halls surviving for such long years.
Moreover. Toji temple features an elegantly landscaped large garden and a beautiful pond with Lotus flowers and Koi carps.
Cherry blossom in Toji Temple
There are many cherry trees in the garden and the view of Cherry blossoms is gorgeous in spring. The Sakura trees illuminate at night during the cherry blossom season and it makes a lovely sight both day and night, which attracts lots of visitors.
We visited the Toji temple on a bright sunny day during the summer. It was difficult to believe such a serene and quiet place existed among the modern buildings in bustling Kyoto city.
We enjoyed a lot the wonderful ancient architectural methods used to build such a gigantic wooden structure, without using a single nail. Since the wood interlocking system has been used to join the parts of wood, this structure was strong enough to survive earthquakes.
Toji Temple is one of the perfect places to experience a calm and quiet time in Kyoto city. We stayed several hours in the Toji temple, which we felt as though time has stopped, giving the feeling we don’t want to leave this peaceful place forever.
2. Tofukuji Temple
Tofukuji Temple is one of the largest and most important Zen temples in Kyoto. It is one of the easily reachable temples, just one stop away from Kyoto Station on the JR Nara Line. This temple founded in 1236, and throughout the centuries additions and renovations made to the temple buildings and grounds. It has several gardens and each of the gardens has elegantly landscaped with rocks, picturesque ponds, and lush greenery.
Most importantly, Tofukuji is famous for its spectacular sanmon gate dating back to 1425. It is the oldest gate of its kind. The 22 meters tall, two-storied gate has three entrances and gives a feeling of grand entry to the visitors.
Autumn foliage in Tofukuji Temple
Certainly, Tofukuji temple is widely famous all over Japan as an epic spot to see autumn colors. There are hundreds of Maple trees in the temple garden. With the start of autumn at the end of October, the maple leaves turn yellow, then orange, and finally turn into deep red at the end. After that, people come from all over Japan to see the Tofukuji garden filled with bright red leaves during this time.
The most popular view is from Tsutenkyo Bridge, which is 100 m long and spans a valley of lush maple trees. The color of Maple leaves reaches its peak at the end of autumn, around mid to late November and Tofukuji becomes the most popular destination in Kyoto at that time.
We visited the Tofukuji temple during autumn to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of autumn foliage. The walkways were extremely crowded during that time. Although there were many visitors, the journey was completely worthy. The view of the bright red maple trees from Tsutenkyo bridge was quite spectacular.
We captured mesmerizing images of the deep red Maple trees with the background of the Tofukuji temple. There was a vast area in the temple garden and the sceneries around the temple were very attractive, as we leisurely enjoyed the whole day.
3. Byodoin Temple
Byodoin Temple is a world heritage site located in Uji, Kyoto. It was originally built in 998 as a private villa and later it turned into a temple in 1052. The most famous building in the temple is the main hall with two phoenix statues on the roof, call the Phoenix Hall.
Phoenix Hall consists of a central hall, flanked by twin wing corridors on both sides of the central hall. The Phoenix Hall features on the back of the Japanese ten yen coin. Many of the buildings in Byodoin Temple repeatedly lost to fires and other calamities over the centuries. However, the Phoenix Hall was never destroyed and it is one of the few original wooden structures in Japan to survive from the ancient era.
Since this temple is quite old, visitors allow small groups to enter the Phoenix Hall for a short guided tour. Inside the Phoenix Hall, a single large image of Amida Buddha installed on a high platform. The Amida Buddha statue created nearly 1,000 years ago, by Japanese cypress wood and covered with gold leaf. The ancient exquisite paintings inside the Phoenix hall still well preserved.
Biyodoin temple surrounds by a scenic pond and there is a large garden around the temple. The sceneries in the temple garden are changing with the season. It is especially beautiful in the spring with many kinds of flowers.
Wisteria blooming in Biyodoin Temple
Most importantly, Biyodoin Temple is famous for its beautiful Wisteria bloomings. There is a massive Wisteria plant with three Wisteria trellises, which said 200 years old. Gorgeous clusters of Wisteria blooms can grow around 1m long, reaching almost to the ground.
Since Biyodoin Temple located quite closer to our rented home in Uji, it was one of our favorite places to enjoy our free time. We visited Biyodoin Temple several times, including the spectacular Wisteria flowering season.
We were amazed by the enchanting beauty of thousands of purple Wisteria blooms. The beautiful blooms were a lovely sight as a purple waterfall and it was one of the finest views we saw in Kyoto.
We enjoyed the whole day watching Wisteria and other spring blooms in the temple ground and capturing the nice shots to have an everlasting memory of the lovely sceneries.
4. Yasaka Shrine
Yasaka Shrine or Yasaka Jinja is one of the most famous shrines in Kyoto. The shrine is located in the popular Gion area; hence call as Gion Shrine too. The initial construction of the Shrine began in 656. The entrance of the shrine guards by two wooden lion-dog guardians, called Koma-inu in Japanese. It is a popular temple among Japanese visitors and tourists to get the blessing of family life and pray for luck, love, and success.
The distinct feature of the Yasaka Shrine is the stage with hundreds of lanterns that light up in the evenings. Each lantern bears the name of its sponsors. With the lovely lanterns illuminated at night, this is a great place for an evening stroll.
Gion Matsuri in Yasaka Shrine
Yasaka Shrine widely famous for its summer festival, the Gion Matsuri, which celebrates annually in the month of July. It is one of the most famous festivals in Japan, dates back over a thousand years. It involves a procession with massive floats and hundreds of participants.
We visited the shrine during spring in early April to see the cherry blossom and the temple was very busy during that season. The temple ground was a lovely sight to see with the beautiful lanterns. Then we visited the adjacent Maruyama Park, one of the most famous cherry blossom viewing spots in Kyoto. We visited the Yasaka shrine in July again, to see the annual Gion Matsuri and enjoyed the hundreds of beautiful wooden floats and traditional Japanese music and dancing.
5. Heian Jingu Shrine
Heian Jingu Shrine is located on Jingu Michi in Okazaki, a short walk from Higashiyama Station on the Tozai subway line. It is one of the top-ranked shrines listed as an important cultural property of Japan. Heian Jingu Shrine has a relatively short history, dating back just over a hundred years to 1895. It built to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the founding of Kyoto as the capital of the country. But the present wooden structures dates back only to 1979, after a fire in 1976 destroyed the original one.
Giant Torii gate in Heian Jingu Shrine
Certainly, the giant Torii gate of the Heian Shrine is the largest and tallest Torii gate in Japan. This gate is 24.2 meters tall, and the massive supporting beams are 3.63 meters in diameter. This massive gateway marks the road leading to the shrine and is visible from a far distance.
Visitors enter the shrine through the main gate. The shrine grounds are very spacious, with a wide-open court at the center. The floor area covers with white sand. This is a very impressive shrine with elegant, richly colored buildings. The halls in the shrine colored with bright red or vermillion color and the roof with green tiles, making it a photogenic site that attracts lots of visitors.
Lovely garden in Heian Jingu Shrine
Behind the main buildings, there is an attractive, lovely garden with a variety of plants and ponds. There is a wooden bridge call as the Bridge of Peace that leads the visitor out of the garden. The garden’s most striking feature is its many weeping cherry trees, making the garden one of the best cherry blossom spots in Kyoto. It is famous for the trail of 300 cherry trees and it contains different kinds of flowering plants including plum, iris, azalea, and lilies.
We spent many hours wandering around the Shrine garden and enjoyed the peaceful and serene environment a lot. There were many picturesque locations in the large temple complex and we were able to capture some gorgeous photographs. Heian Jingu Shrine is a beautiful and tranquil place where you can sit beside and enjoy nature without feeling the time is passing.
Here we have brought up the second part of the most beautiful temples we visited during our stay in Kyoto. If you are going to visit Japan someday, make a visit to these majestic and astounding ancient temples. We have many other marvelous pictures of ancient temples we visited in Kyoto. The best temples in Kyoto – part 3 will bring more details and wonderful pictures of them.
