Sanmon (三門 or 山門 in Japanese) is a large, a few stories high temple gate. Sanmo is not only one of the key elements of the Zen Buddhist temple, but also one of the so called "seven temple halls" (七堂伽藍, Japanese: shichido garan), which are elements that form an ideal Zen Buddhism temple. There are many types of Buddhist temple gates in Japan, which are categorised into three ranks, being sorted by their height and size. The role of the sanmon in the Buddhist temple is to free all passers through from greed, hatred and foolishness. The pictured temple gate is located in Kencho-ji Rinzai Zen Buddhism temple in Kamakura. I also wrote another article about a small figurine of a meditating monk, which sits at the base of Kencho-ji temple gate, and you can read more about it here. Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
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There is something ethereal and magical about the architecture of the wooden Japanese temples, especially the Zen temples, which are far less decorative than the Shinto shrines, although when I first saw the Kencho-ji (建長寺) temple in Kamakura, it had the same impact on me as the Nikko Tosho-gu (日光東照宮) temple complex. I knew I will be coming back there a few times. When I went back to Kamakura this year, there were very few people visiting this shrine, which made the whole area feel more intimate and secluded, and I wanted to capture this special mood on the camera. Photography is all about understanding the light, and the composition. The latter has much to do with perspective and the angle from which one takes a photo. Sometimes small adjustments can dramatically change the story one wants to tell. My aim was to create a photograph that would eliminate anything that was modern, including the tourists. When I was retouching this photo in Photoshop, I even removed the lightning conductor wires that ran along the sides of the roofs. I wanted to create an image that would make the passing of time irrelevant, Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
This is a Chinese style golden gate, known in Japanese language as karamon (唐門, lit. Chinese-style gate). You can see some of those gates here, including the pictured one, only before its restoration. This particular gate is located at the back end of the Kencho-ji Zen temple complex in Kamakura, and it underwent a complete renovation back in 2011. It looks absolutely amazing, especially when the sun hits it directly. The lavish decorations and all the golden reflective details are simply mind blowing. If you are visiting Kamakura, I highly recommend you stop by the Kencho-ji temple. On my both trips to Kamkura, I spent about four hours on the grounds of this temple, and I would not mind going there once more, and take my camera with me. Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
The entrance to the Japnese Zen Buddhism Kencho-ji temple is guarded by a massive gate, known in Japanese as sanmon (山門). Sanmon literally means "mountain gate", though it has also other names. The gates rank from rank one (smallest) to rank five (largest and most impressive). Although the Kencho-ji temple gate is classified as rank one, it is rather large. I will write a separate article about this gate, especially that I took a really interesting photo of the Kencho-ji sanmon.
The picture that you see below, shows a small wooden figurine of a seated meditating monk, placed at the base of the temple gate. The writing in kanji reads 喜捨 (Japanese: kiya), which means "alms giving". It is believed that this statue, when touched by whoever is passing by, will take away all sicknesses and will bless with longevity. I took another close-up photo of this sculpture, in which you can see it in greater detail. It must have been touched millions of times, as the paint is completely gone in some places, and the wood surface is smooth as if it was lacquered. The Warding off Evil grand festival (厄除大祭) is one of the Japanese Shinto religion ceremonies, which is held in major shinto shrines. It involves prayers, symbolic purifying fire, ritual dance performed by the shrine maidens, and traditional Japanese music. Below photo shows two Shinto priests, who play traditional Japanese instruments - the Japanmese shime daiko drum (締め太鼓), which is a small drum played with sticks called bachi (桴(, and the flute, that looked to me like kagurabue (神楽笛), which is a transverse flute used for Shinto religion ceremonies, mainly for the kagura dance. I gave this photo an antique look. I think it fits the mood perfectly.
This was my second visit to Kamakura this year. Last time I went there, I took my time photographing various places, and one day was simply too short. Today my main focus was the Kenchō-ji temple (建長寺) and the Hachimangu (八幡宮) shrine. Below you can see the interion of Hattō (法堂), the largest wooden temple building in eastern Japan, which is one of the buildings of the Kencho-ji temple complex. Kencho-ji is the oldest Zen training temples in Japan, and it was founded in 13th century. The dragon image is painted on the ceiling of Hattō, which is a Zen lecture hall of Kencho-ji temple. The painting is absolutely amazing, and shows a horned dragon coiled in clouds. If you are visiting Kamakura, I highly recommend you go and see it.
Kamakura (鎌倉) was once a capitol of Japan back in late 12th century. However, the history of human dwellings in this region goes back 10,000 years. It is a very small and in a way letargic town with tiny narrow streets linking its main attractions like a net of silk threads. In fact, Kamakura is so small that one can easily sightsee it on foot. The major attraction of Kamakura are the Japanese tempels, including several Zen Buddhism temples, and, of course, the statue of the Great Buddha. Below photo is a picture of a fragment of the Kencho-ji (建長寺, lit. temple of longevity and good health) Rinzai Zen temple complex. Kencho-ji is not only the most prominent Zen temple of Kamakura, but, being established in mid 13th century, it is also the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. Buy a print of this photo at my store on Fine Art America.
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