Kinkaku-ji Temple, Kyoto, Japan
Kinkaku-ji Temple means, literally, the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" and its official name is Rokuon-ji (the "Deer Garden Temple").
It's one of the most famous Zen Buddhist temples of the world and is listed as one of the World Heritage Sites, together with other historical sites of Kyoto, like the Tenryu-ji Temple, another wonder I will tell you about in a next post.
Kinkaku-ji dates from the mid 14th century. Since its establishment, it was ravaged by fires a couple of times, and the present building dates from the 20th century. The whole building, with exception to the first floor, is covered with gold leaves. The pavilion also houses some relics of the Buddha.
The gardens and the pond called Kyōko-chi, or "Mirror Pond", were built in the pure Japanese Zen tradition, and there are small islets in it, the trees and the temple reflecting in the water like if it was a mirror.
To visit this golden architecture masterpiece was in my bucket list, but I ended up being surprised by its magnificence and the impressive beauty of the gardens and lake.
It was Spring, and the cherries blossoms were, literally, the cherry on the top of the cake.
Wandering and capturing the amazing views and reflections on the lake has to be any photographer’s dream. Which is sublimed by the surreal presence of the temple, shining in gold mastering the landscape as a vision.
A vision of pure amazement. A vision of pure delight. Like if it was a dream in the Earth.
I couldn’t stop pressing the shutter. I am, by definition, a bit compulsive when I take photos. I always take more than the double I should (and I’m being moderate). But in this trip to Japan, I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t stop!
Here are some of the photos I took of this amazing place.
I hope you enjoy them!
Yours,
Isabel
@nolasco
HippieSoul
Original photos taken by me.
To know more about the Kinkaku-ji Temple visit this page.
This is my contribution to the 7 World’s Continents Photo Challenge - Asian Sunday, by @czechglobalhosts
Cheers to all!
