Kennin-ji Temple

There is so many temples in Kyoto it was overwhelming to narrow it down and pick one or two. My gf wanted to come here for their dragon art and I’m glad we did. It’s free to get in but some area, like the whole art section, was a fee. As you enter the whole premise you walk down, and on the right side you keep walking to a small door entrance and that is where the dragon art is, as well as other arts. You take off your shoes.
There are so many arts to look at, drawings, wall art, culture, it was a nice breath of fresh air. As you walk in this whole area there is also zen gardens. You can’t go in them, just to look at. Each section of the room has different arts. As you walk towards the back there is a whole garden like area, very peaceful and full of trees. There is shoes for you to put on as you walk to the back. In there you will also see an open room for a small traditional tea time. You have to pay but it was pretty cheap. You get tradtional green tea, which was foamy and aromatic, and a sweet treat that had red bean. It was a nice little snack to have. As you finish you can walk around the small garden area and take you step back up, take the shoes off and go to another area where again, you wear another slipper and walk towards the outside to a grand room. I was not expecting this but it was some temple of a goddess or protector I think, When you look a the ceiling there is a huge wall art that is covered with twin dragon art. It’s hard to explain but so grand when you look at it. I believe it was all hand drawn.
There are many areas to observe, this is just one part of the temple. Everything seemed so peaceful and had a great positive aura. Even though you can’t go in the zen gardens, just looking at them felt like a sense of stress is off your shoulder. As we stepped out and put our shoes back on, we looked around at other areas. Most just trees and a few things to look at here and there. I don’t think we found much because we did not know where we were going and for the most part we came mainly for the dragon art. I would recommend checking this place out if you are in Kyoto. They are also near a restaurant that has a popular chicken bowl in hot stone pot for lunch (Wabiya).

Uno de mis templos favoritos en Kioto a la hora de ver de manera muy completa la simbología y estética del Zen.
Situado en pleno Gion, su acceso por las casas de geishas y los tradicionales edificios de este barrio es también un buen paseo en sí. El templo data del s. XIII y su estructura de madera bien pulida llama la atención en todo el edificio.
Nada más entrar, se exhibe una réplica del biombo de los dioses del viento y del trueno de Sôtatsu. La obra original pertenece a este templo, pero parece que para su mejor conservación, lo guardan en el Museo Nacional de Kioto. También en la entrada, una pequeña tienda vende incienso, caligrafías y recuerdos del templo.
Al entrar, las estancias se suceden abiertas y en torno a distintos jardines: Chô-​ontei, otro donde se insciben las formas de círculo, cuadrado y triángulo haciendo referencia a Sengai Gibon en su representación del Universo y el conocido jardín seco, más amplio que el de Ryoanji, pero sin ese muro tan excepcional.
Cuando visito uno de estos templos me los imagino perfectas estructuras para una vivienda y siempre pienso que querría que mi casa fuese un lugar así. Como no se puede tener todo, las visitas a edificios similares resultan, cuanto menos, inspiradoras.
La visita se completa con la pintura que Koizumi Junsaku realizó por el 800 aniversario del templo en 2002: dos enormes dragones pintados sobre papel japonés. No es que me vuelva loca este estilo pero, ya solo por tamaño, es bastante memorable.
El Ryoanji es el templo Zen más popular y visitado por considerarse la quintaesencia de este tipo de estética, pero si no se tiene tiempo o si realmente os espantan las multitudes, esta puede ser una alternativa válida.

When I headed for this temple, traffic was a little heavy on the narrow street leading to the temple. I walked on the road carefully lest I should be run down by car (in my youth I had an experience of being hit by car).
The ground of the temple was spacious and I saw many sightseers taking some pictures of main halls and surrounding scenery. They seemed to come here to see a famous image of the wind and thunder gods drawn by Sotatsu Tawaraya in the Edo period (it appears in history text books) and painting of twin dragons on the ceiling. Both of two were overwhelming! Their glaring eyes are so scary! It is worth seeing, if you once see it, you will make an oath that you will never do a wrong thing.
In front of the abbots’ chamber vast dry landscape garden spread in front of me. If I stayed alone without talking for a long time, I might reach a stage where I am free of all thoughts and desires.