Kiyomizudera and Sanjusangendo

Our next day trip began at Kiyomizudera, an independent Buddhist temple nestled into the wooded hills of eastern Kyoto. Because of its elevated position, the temple offers beautiful panoramas of the city. Visitors are able to stand on large verandas, and take in the views from an uninterrupted perspective. The most impressive of these is the view toward the main hall, a monumental gesture that sits above the surrounding forest, projecting gracefully out from the hillside.

I especially admire the main hall, and find the effect of its configuration very interesting. The large majority of the structure sits hidden behind vegetation. As a result, the building is understood not by its connection to the ground plane, but by its prominent position above the trees. This quality conveys a sense of lightness, allowing it to float in the eyes of the viewer.

After spending the morning admiring views of the city, we walked over to Sanjusangendo, the “Hall of thirty-three bays.” As the name suggests, the building is a long, rectangular hall. The real attraction of the temple, however, is the assortment of 1001 life-size statues of Senju Kannonzo (The “Thousand-handed” goddess of mercy). Each is finely crafted out of Japanese cypress, and covered in gold foil.

It was astonishing to see so many intricately carved pieces, all lined up in a seemingly endless array. The main statue, a large seated image of Kannon with hundreds of individually crafted arms, was incredible. I stood in amazement, completely overwhelmed at the sheer amount of detail of the piece. It was awe-inspiring.