According to the private biographical writings of the temple, this temple was built in 1461. After being destroyed by fire during Onin-no-ran, Japan’s longest and largest civil war in the 15th century, it was rebuilt at the present site in the 16th century. The temple is one of the sub-temples of nearby Tenryu-ji Buddhist Temple, a World Heritage, and its garden is noted particularly for fresh maple foliage. The garden is skillfully designed to be enhanced by its surrounding scenery of well-known Arashiyama hills.
In this connection, the garden was introduced in a collection of the noted gardens in Kyoto issued in the 18th century. The first photo shows a big rock with moss on top. As the rock looks like a lion head, the garden has become to be called “Lion barking garden”, “Shishiku-no-niwa” in Japanese, and it is believed that the Buddha preaches to visitors while they are strolling around the garden. All the visitors can realize absolute truth of life while they are walking around it hearing sounds of singing birds and winds.
Comments