Pagoda
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After yesterday's Summer squall, today promises to be the hottest day so far of the year. Not wanting to be out in the sun too long, I took the short ride down Horikawa and across Kujo to To-ji, the tallest pagoda in Japan and a site yet again linked to Emperor Kanmu and the founding of the city. The spacious grounds attract two market days (Kobo-san -named after Kukai- is the larger of the two), but for the rest of the time the huge precinct is the perfect place for fresh air or a short rest beneath one of the large ginko trees. As the temple is so close to Kyoto Station and so many major railway lines and a highway, it is surprising how the raucous city slips away no sooner than you have passed through the gates.
After transferring the capital from Nara to Nagaoka, and after several years of bad-luck and misfortune from Nagaoka to present-day Kyoto, Emperor Kanmu decided to model his new capital on that of Changan, the Imperial seat of China. Either side of the Rajomon (the great Southern gateway into the city) he constructed two guardian temples: To-ji (East Temple) and Sai-ji (West Temple - now lost to time). Thirty years later and Emperor Saga honoured Kukai (the founder of Shingon Buddhism) with To-ji and renamed the complex Kyo-o-gokoku-ji (The Temple for the Defense of the Nation by Means of the King of Doctrines). Kukai greatly increased the size of the temple, adding many buildings and training halls, and in 826 he constructed the 187 metre pagoda, for which (at least to tourists) To-ji is now most famed for, and which Kyoto is often represented by. The pagoda burnt down 4 times after lightning struck its roof, but the current structure is from 1644. There is much more to see, many other buildings and priceless statues, but for today I called it a wrap and took a slow cycle back home. |
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