Sanjusangendou (三十三間堂) is located in Higashiyama area. The name comes from the number of intervals between building’s support columns. The hall is 120 metres from south to north, and it is the longest wooden building in the world. Using this long structure, people used to hold archery competitions in this temple. A traditional annual event which is related to archery is still held in January. By the way, Sanjusangendou is not its official name. This temple is officially called “the Hall of the Lotus.”
In the Heian period, there was a grant imperial villa of the Emperor Goshirakawa in this site. Taira no Kiyomori, a great warrior at that time, put his own money into the construction of the Hall of the Lotus King for the emperor. It is said that he built a magnificent temple with a five-story pagoda. Unfortunately, this temple was burned down in the fire in 1249. Later, the reconstruction of the hall was done by the Emperor Gosaga in 1266, and that is the building we can see today.
The main attraction of this temple is 1,001 life-size standing statues of Juichimen Senju Kannon, or “11-faced, 1,000-armed Kannon.” The scenery of the great number of statues standing from end to end was just incredible. Most of the statues were actually made after the fire. However, 124 of 1,000 escaped from the fire in 1249. Kannnon, the Goddess of Mercy is the most popular Bodhisattva in Japan. It is believed that the Bodhisattva transforms herself into 33 different shapes and saves people suffering from pain and difficulty. Besides the Kannon statues, this temple has many National Properties, such as statues of the wind god and the thunder god. Taking pictures was not allowed in the hall, so I don’t have any pictures…
After that, I walked around the garden next to the hall. Then, I found a small water place.
Interestingly, this spring is called the spring of night-time crying. It was found by a monk who dreamed of the spring. This name comes from the sound of the spring at night which is similar to crying.
Although this temple is not designated as one of the World Heritage sites in Kyoto (I personally think that they should have chosen this temple too!), this is one of the must-see attractions in the city!
urara in kyoto 