Our World Trip: The Golden Temple

A further hour’s drive from Nara brought us to Kyoto a charming ancient town saved by General Stimson from destruction by the US Air Force in WW2 because he knew of its cultural treasures.

Indeed the treasures here are simply mind-blowing. Arriving in a freezing wind we started with a ‘Japanese’ lunch at a hotel with an interesting line in evacuation instructions before moving on to the Golden Temple Buddhist complex. There is no better way to describe this area than to show the photos and to say that the Temple was recently restored in a process requiring 20kg of gold leaf – that’s an awful lot of leaf! Legend has it the process of one’s soul moving from Earth to Heaven is symbolized by the jumping of the carp in the lower lake up the waterfall, where they turn to dragons. The Temple has three internal floors (which we couldn’t see round) the top one of which appeared to have a liquid floor – in fact it was a perfectly smooth Japanese lacquer.

Moving through the site with its several Temples to particular Buddhas, one is struck by the fragrant incense wafting in the wind from burners by the doors and by the reverence of young people pausing to pray and make their gifts. Typical Japanese gardens and ponds cover the hilly site, with a background of evergreen trees.

The balancing Shinto and Buddhist Temples at Kiyumizo complement the purely Buddhist Golden Temple and we climbed the hilly street flanked by shops of all kinds to reach the gate. The sun shone on the red and orange decoration of the pagodas as we made our way to the main Temple, another fantastic timber structure perched on a steep hillside with huge trestles supporting it. The Shinto Jishu Shrine has been known as the ‘Cupid of Japan’ and the dwelling-place of the god of love and matchmaking for over 1300 years and people come from all over the Country for charms to pray for their happiness and for that of their children. Smaller Temples on the site have significance for children in particular and the waterfall’s waters are said to be particularly powerful in romantic affairs!

The return to Osaka took us across a varied landscape of rice fields, light industry and residential regions all mixed together and remarkably flat – something we recalled when the tsunami reports came in the next day. Arriving in the dark and with light rain falling, we paid a quick visit to see the dancers performing on the quayside (sampling the hot soup cooked by an ex-Sumo wrestler) and to admire the huge Ferris wheel by the Aquarium before crashing out! A busy day!!