Sanjusangen-do
Sanjusangen-do, or as it’s temeple name of Rengeo-in, is a temple hall in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto across from the Kyoto National Museum of Art. The temple was originally built in the 12th century by famed samurai Taira no Kiyomori, but was rebuilt in the 13th century after the hall burned down due to fire. Over the years other major patrons like Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed gates and halls around the center hall of the temple. The temple name, meaning “the hall with thirty three spaces between the columns,” may not inspire the same kind of opulance or grandeur like Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion), or Tenryuji (Temple of the Heavenly Dragon), but in many ways I would argue that it is certainly at the forefront of major structures in the Kyoto area. The main hall is designated as a National Treasure, and as I will write in the next section, I hope to pursuade you to see the same.
For the casual: 10. For the educated: 11.
If you’ve been reading my posts, you may have noticed that I haven’t graded a location above a 10 on this scale. Only two places have received such distinction in my book prior to this post: Tôdaiji and Nikko Tôshôgû. I firmly believe that this is one of the best places to visit in Japan, especially in the Kyoto area because of its art, its history, its culture, and its appeal. The building has a curious mysteriousness to it even though it’s not much of a secret destination. For one, it’s not a tall building and it lacks other features like pagoda or large gates to distinguish itself from the surrounding city. Structures like Tôdaiji are visible from miles away because of just how huge it is, Kinkakuji glitters in golden sunlight, other places will even have massive gates or sprawling forests with winding trails to the main buildings, but none of that is at Sanjusangen-do. Instead, the grounds are surrounded with a plaster wall and a large sign hanging off said wall with the name of the temple. So the outside isn’t super inspiring and there’s very little standing out to draw your attention or curiosity. But once you pay for your ticket to pass the wall, things start to look better. The grounds are well managed with beautiful old trees known for their annual blossoms, while the occasional ceremony performed outside draws in additional guests. The grounds however are not nice enough for the ranking, but from the grounds you can see at least a hint of the temple’s appeal, namely the massive main hall. The temple is specifically built around the Sanjusangen Hall, and when you first see it the curiosity meter spikes. The hall is about 120 meters (~393 feet) long and the idea that there are thirty three “spaces” between the pillars begins to speak to the importance of what is inside. Inside?
Even before I had been to Kyoto for the first time, I had heard about this amazing temple where there was a vast trove of statues. The idea had been lost to the back of my mind until the fateful day when my friend and I decided to poke our heads inside to find some Autumn leaves for photographing. We made our way to the hall’s entrance, being considerate of the massive signs everywhere asking guests not to take pictures of the inside of the hall (they will take your camera and check the memory if you bring one in). We turned the corner into the smoke filled walkway where the air was an intoxicating mixture of wonderful incense and ancient wood. That was when it hit us, the grandeur, the spectacle, and the very real urge to pull out our cameras and start documenting absolutely everything (we didn’t because the guards and signs are more than willing to remind you not to). This is where things get real. The hall is almost 400 feet long because it’s not home to a couple, a dozen, or even a hundred statues, instead it’s home to 1,001 statues of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kannon. With a single main statue of the “Thousand-Armed” Kannon, the 1,000 smaller statues stand at attention, 500 figures flanking each side of the main statue, to witness the suffering of humanity. I call these statues small, but they’re all really human sized. Each statue has 11 heads to watch over all of humanity, and each statue has a total of 42 arms including the two main arms. You may be wondering, why are they called “Thousand-Armed” Kannon if they only have 42 arms? Well. if you subtract the two main arms to make 40 arms, and multiply by the 25 planes of existence, then you come out with a total of 1,000 arms.
As an additional visual feast, we dive into iconic visuals of Buddhism. Now if you’re at all familiar with the basics of Buddhism, you’ll likely recall that a Buddha is any being that has gained enlightenment by casting off their attachments to the world around them. Please note that as mentioned, any enlightened being is called a Buddha, but any reference to “the Buddha” indicates the historical Buddha named Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince that left the life of wealth and began the practices of Buddhism. Ok, my scholarly side has had its say. As such, these figures are depicted in art as wearing little more than humble robes. But Bodhisattvas are not fully enlightened and their last attachment to the world is their desire to help the suffering of everyone who has yet to open enlightenment. Therefore they are not depicted in simple robes, but are adorned with fantastic jewelry and crowns to visually represent the last connections to the world by referencing Siddhartha’s past as a prince.
Now back to the statues. We have established that there are 1,001 statues in total, 1,000 of which are human-sized, and now we’ve established that since all of these statues depict a Bodhisattva, each statue is adorned in brilliant wealth. Now for the new stuff: each statue is gilt, so the whole sight is just golden eye-candy. Can you begin to imagine why we wanted to take pictures? The whole experience was just a rush of the senses. The smells, the sights, and the sounds were all intoxicating. I mention in my advice page that visiting sacred sites in Japan is always planned with specific sights, sounds, feelings, and smells to invoke a deeper reaction to the faith. Sanjusangen-do has certainly climbed to the top of my rankings for this reason alone. So if you have time to visit this temple, please please please do.
