After a healthy dose of Zen at Ryoanji Temple, we headed to another highlight of the day - the Kinkakuji Temple...
Yes, this was one of the temples on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Kyoto itinerary in 2014. And it was obvious why he wants to replicate Kyoto's success as a heritage city in Varanasi, the world's oldest living city...
This sight looks straight out of a fairy tale...
This was originally the site of a villa called Kitayama-dai, belonging to a statesman, Saionji Kintsune. in 1397, the villa was purchased from the Saionji family by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and transformed into the Kinkakuji complex. When Yoshimitsu died, the building was converted into a Zen temple by his son, according to his wishes.
The temple was burnt down twice - in the 1460s and again in 1950. It then underwent its restoration in 1955. The reconstruction is said to be a copy close to the original.
The structure is gilded with thin gold leaf and that gives its name - Kinkakuji, or the Temple of the Golden Pavilion...
It's hard to take your eyes off it....
It is so beautiful...
Clouds gather over the horizon...
A lady in a lovely kimono...
Lovely Japanese ladies...
A bronze phoenix on the roof...
The fishing deck of Kinkakuji...
Statuettes of Buddha and other deities...
The Anmintaku Pond with the White Snake Pagoda...
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