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 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.
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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.
This 8th century wooden statue represent the Yakushi Nyorai (薬師如来), or the Medicine Buddha who is believed to heal all illnesses. I took this picture in the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno. I was pleasantly surprised to see that one was allowed to take photographs of a few statues that were on this special display, which is close to shocking in Japan. Usually anything and everything is forbidden. The entire chamber was dark and moody, with spot light highlighting only contours of several different sculptures. All of them had this magical aura of peace and harmony. One felt calm only by looking nat them.
The calligraphy that I added to this picture was written yesterday. It is in clerical script and it reads 佛心, which means the heart of Buddha, or the compassion of Buddha. I hope it will bring you peace of mind and good health. 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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Ponte Ryuurui (品天龍涙)
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