Golden Pavilion of Kenkakuji

Fascinating Kyoto

by Chandani Jayatilleke

Just before we exit the railway station, we stop at the tourism office to collect a city map and some information about the historical sites. And an officer there gently asks; “How long are you going to be in Kyoto?”

We have 36 hours”; I said. He looks at me pathetically and says – “I reckon there’s nothing much you can do unless it is 36 days.” Anyway he gives us some leaflets and explains about a few important places. Alright, we don’t want to spare a second. We navigate our way out and in a moment we are at the Southern exit of the station.

Finally we are in the historic and bustling city of Kyoto. The journey from Tokyo by Shinkansen took only two and a half hours. Well…the ticket was expensive…but it was certainly a hassle free, enjoyable and comfortable journey – fully worth the money. The bonus on the way was the marvellous sight of Mt Fuji as we passed the lovely mountainous countryside. Just before we set off from Tokyo our friend gave us a hint – to pick a seat on the right side of the train – if we are lucky, we could catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji – I yearned for that moment. We were indeed lucky.

Kyoto is the former imperial capital of Japan and apparently the seventh largest city of Japan. Visitors to this down-to earth city say that it is mesmerising.

We were told the best way to visit the city is on foot or by bicycle. Just across the road we could see many hotel signs and we chose the one closest to the station for our night’s stay.

From our base we decided to follow the city map and walk along the scenic canals, serene gardens, bustling streets and explore the city - by walking into a few temples and shrines of the city’s 2,000 such places. Soon we realise - yes indeed - it needs perhaps 36 days to cover all that. It is impossible to see them all in a day or two. We walked back towards the Kyoto station to get a better view of its futuristic glass and steel façade.

Modernisation

Kyoto is actually a city rich in history and modernisation.

Japanese visitors at the temple

We ended our day at a small Japanese restaurant enjoying a Japanese meal of fish, vegetables and sticky rice and on the way back to the hotel we savoured the green tea mocha cake which we found only in Kyoto.

The next morning we visited three well-known temples of Kyoto. We bought the bus tickets from the reception of the hotel and they helped us find the bus numbers. We hopped on a local bus and headed for the Kinkaku-ji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. We were told that almost every visitor to Kyoto heads to this temple. History says that Kinkaku-ji was built in 1398 by the shogun Yoshimitsu as a pleasure home and he wanted it turned into a temple after his death. However, the original pavillion had been burned down by a bhikkhu later and the pavilion visitors see today was built in the 1950s to replace the original.

Paradise

Kinkaku-ji is a paradise for photographers. The golden reflection of the pavilion shimmering on the surface of the pond is the main attraction there. Although the place always gets large crowds of tourists - and they come by the thousands - the entire area is serene and calm. The garden expands in a vast area and we took time to relax and refresh while walking around it. We came across this tiny tea house – and there we were served tea in the style of a tea ceremony. It was cold, thick green tea – made with green tea powder. It was very refreshing indeed.

From there we went to the Sanjusangendo temple famous for its 1001 statues of Kannon. In this temple, in the centre of the main hall sits a large, wooden statue flanked on each side by 500 statues of human sized 1,000-armed Kannon in 10 rows. It is a sight to behold.

The temple was founded in 1164 and rebuilt a century later after the original structure had been destroyed in a fire. The temple hall is Japan's longest wooden structure1 (20 metres). Unfortunately, taking pictures is prohibited in this hall. We also visited the Ryoan-ji Temple's dry rock garden. Nobody knows who designed it or what the meaning is of the 15 rocks scattered across its expanse of raked white gravel.

Kyoto is a special place; it was spared the bombing of World War II. Despite the modernisation, the city is still steeped in its past glory. The people of Kyoto are proud of the UNESCO world heritage sites in their city. Apart from the cultural sites, the city still has a geisha district, modern and hip cafes and restaurants. However, our stay in Kyoto was too short to catch a glimpse of a geisha.

The station is modern, giant and convenient. There are lots of luxury hotels. But the best experience would be to stay in a traditional Japanese inn, known as a ryokan. They are popular with tourists; hence the price is rather high. Kyoto’s duty-free shop of handicrafts is packed with Japanese crafts from expensive suits of armour, samurai swords, kimonos and woven bamboo baskets to take home as souvenirs.

Tea ceremony	School children visiting a temple