When in Kyoto, visiting a temple (or two or maybe three, sometimes more) is a must. Kyoto is well known for its many beautiful and most times calming temples and shrines.
It is said that Kyoto has over 1,600 temples.
(source: https://www.insidekyoto.com/best-temples-in-kyoto)
One of the famous temples is the Kiyomizu-dera temple.
Kiyomizu-dera is translated to Pure water temple or Clear water temple.
(source 1: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3901.html)
(source 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyomizu-dera)
"It was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall in the wooded hills east of Kyoto, and derives its name from the fall's pure waters."
(source: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3901.html)
During my visit to Japan a few years back, I had the opportunity to visit this temple with my friends who were at that time, studying in Kyoto.
To reach the temple, we had to walk a little from where buses were parked at some distance away at the foot of the temple, passing by little shops and stalls that sold all sorts of souvenirs, food and crafty items that were really interesting and cute:
One of the stall owners was selling traditional musical instruments which was too hard to resist. She graciously allowed me to take a photo of her and her stall:
Each item that was sold came with a guide on how to use the instrument. I bought one instrument that "whistles" as you fling it around in circles.
We went during the mid of September which was a peak visiting period for the temple and it was crowded as we approached the temple:
At the base of the temple's main hall, there were areas where visitors could drink the water that streamed from the Ottawa Waterfall:
"The Otowa Waterfall is located at the base of Kiyomizudera's main hall. Its waters are divided into three separate streams, and visitors use cups attached to long poles to drink from them. Each stream's water is said to have a different benefit, namely to cause longevity, success at school and a fortunate love life. However, drinking from all three streams is considered greedy."
(source: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3901.html)
Across the main hall, there was another hall known as Okuno-in hall which was packed with tourists:
On the temple grounds, there are different shrines, one of which is this Jishu Jinja Shrine, said to be Kyoto's best love shrine according to https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kyoto-kiss-and-tell-the-citys-best-love-shrines_b_9136058:
"The entrance to Jishu Jinja is up this set of stone stairs. The sign on the right says 'enmusubi kami' -- shrine for the love bond god."
On the same day we were there, it coincided with the Blue Dragon (Seiryu-e) procession.
"One of the legends of the temple says that a blue dragon (Seiryu in Japanese), an incarnation of Kannon, flies to drink from the waterfall every night. Furthermore, Yasha, originally a demon-god, is enshrined in a small shrine in the south side of Okuno-in hall."
(source: https://www.kiyomizudera.or.jp/en/visit/seiryu-e/)
While standing in the Okuno-in hall, watching the procession, I took a glimpse at the main hall and boy, it was crowded!
After touring around the temple, we took a scenic nature park route to walk to the bus station:
And I got to play with my camera :D:
A distant view of the temple while we said goodbye:
All photos were taken using my Canon Digital IXUS 970 IS and resized using Canva.
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