“Kiyomizu” in Japanese means clear water or pure water and “dera” means temple. Thus, Kiyomizu-dera when translated in English means “pure water temple”.
This is the pathway leading to Kiyomizu-dera.
The pathway is lined up with stores selling Japanese souvenirs, delicacies and potteries. These shops have been catering to pilgrims and tourists for centuries.
But do your shopping after visiting the temple to make sure your arms are free when you take photos. :)
Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple, was founded in 798 in Kyoto (Japan's capital for more than 1,000 years before it was moved to Tokyo). But the buildings we see today were constructed in the 17th century. The place has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was also one of the 21 finalists for the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2007.
This is the gate that leads to the temple.
Right before reaching the temple, you'll see wooden ornaments like these. These are prayer petitions or wishes of visitors.
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| Prayer petitions |
This is the main temple - the popular Kiyomizu-dera.
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| Kiyomizu-dera |
This structure was constructed without using a single nail!
The wooden pillars that support the temple are 13 meters high. Did you know that during the Japanese Edo Period which was between the 17th and 19th century, there was a popular expression in Japan which means “to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu” or in English, “to take the plunge”. And they literally meant a physical plunge!
During the Edo period, there was a tradition that if you were to survive the 13 meter jump from the stage, one’s wish will be granted. According to Wikipedia, there were 234 jumps recorded and out of these, about 200 survived. Good thing, this practice has been prohibited!
Anyway, from the veranda, here’s the beautiful view of Kyoto.
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| Kyoto |
And here’s the view of the Otowa waterfall (upper left corner of the photo) and a souvenir store - also taken from the temple veranda.
You have to go down these steps to get to the Otowa waterfall.
The Otowa waterfall has 3 streams of water that fall into a pond. Each water stream represents success in an area - one is love, another is longevity and the third, studies or career. The belief is you have to catch and drink water from your selected stream to enjoy the benefit. But you can’t drink from all the 3 streams because it is considered greedy. Nope, we didn't line up to catch and drink water because we wanted all 3! Haha...
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| Visitors catching water to drink from the Otowa waterfall. |
Within the grounds of Kiyomizu-dera are beautiful cherry blossoms (sakura). We were there on April 7 so the season was about the end already but still breathtaking! :)
While exploring the grounds, we also saw a Japanese cemetery.
This is how Japanese tomb stones look like.
Utsukushii (Beautiful).
