Everything about Kinkaku-ji totally explained
is the informal name of
Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺,
Deer Garden Temple) in
Kyoto,
Japan. It was originally built in
1397 to serve as a retirement villa for
Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as part of his estate then known as
Kitayama. It was his son who converted the building into a
Zen temple of the
Rinzai school. The temple was burned down twice during the
Ōnin War.
The Golden Pavilion, or Kinkaku, is a three-story building on the grounds of the temple. The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure
gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a
shariden, housing relics of the
Buddha. The building is often linked or contrasted with
Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion Temple, which is also located in Kyoto.
The Golden Pavilion is set in a magnificent Japanese strolling garden (
kaiyū-shiki). The pond in front of it's called
Kyōko-chi (Mirror Pond). There are many islands and stones on the pond that represent the Buddhist creation story.
In
1950, the pavilion was
burned down by a monk, who then attempted suicide on the hill behind the building. He survived, but during the investigation after the monk's arrest, his mother was called in to talk with the police; on her way home, she committed suicide by jumping from her train into a river valley. The monk was sentenced to seven years in prison; he died of illness during his imprisonment in 1956. At that time, the statue of Ashikaga Yoshimistu was burned. A fictionalized version of these events is at the center of
Yukio Mishima's 1956 book
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.
The present structure dates from
1955. Recently, the coating of Japanese lacquer was found a little decayed, and a new coating as well as gilding with gold-leaf, much thicker than the original coatings, was completed in
1987. Additionally, the interior of the building, including the paintings, was also restored. Finally, the roof was restored in
2003.
The land where the Golden Pavilion sits was used in the 1220s for a villa belonging to
Saionji Kintsune.
image:Kinkaku-ji.jpg|Kinkaku from across the water
Image:Templeofthegoldenpavilion.jpg|The Golden Pavilion
Image:Japan Kyoto Kinkakuji DSC00117.jpg|Kinkaku, the Gold Pavilion
Image:Kinkaku3402CB.jpg|Kinkaku
Image:Japan Kyoto Kinkakuji DSC00122.jpg|Gardens at the Kinkaku-ji
Image:kinkakuji.jpg|Kinkaku during the winter
Image:Kinkaku Snow E4.jpg|Kinkaku in snow
Image:kinkakuji_closeup.jpg|A closeup of the Pavilion
Image:Golden_Pavillion.JPG|Kinkaku in July
Image:Kinkakuji_pavilion_summer.jpg|Kinkaku in August
Image:Kinkaku-ji-top.jpg|Top of Kinkaku
Image:KinkakuSnow2Awp.jpg|Kinkaku in snow
Image:Sunlight on the Golden Temple.jpg|Sunlight on Kinkaku
Further Information
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