Kenninji Temple

Kenninji Temple is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto and is the headquarters of the Kenninji sub-sect of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism. Kenninji Temple features the panel painting, ‘Fu-jin Rai-jin zu’ (Wind & Thunder Gods). The monk Eisai, credited with introducing Zen to Japan, served as Kennin-ji’s founding abbot and is buried on the temple grounds. For its first years the temple combined Zen, Tendai, and Shingon practices, but it became a purely Zen institution under the eleventh abbot, Lanxi Daolong (蘭渓道隆, Lanxi Daolong) (1213-1278). Kenninji Temple is considered to be one of the so-called Kyoto Gozan (京都五山, Kyoto gozan) or “five great Zen temples of Kyoto”, along with the Tenryuji, Shokokuji, Tofukuji, and Manjuji. The head temple presiding over the Gozen in Kyoto is Nanzenji. After the completion of Shōkoku-ji by Yoshimitsu in 1386, a new ranking system was created with Nanzenji at the top and in a class of its own. The Nanzenji had the title of “First Temple of The Land” and played a supervising role. When first built, Kenninji Temple contained seven principal buildings. It has suffered from fires through the centuries, and was rebuilt in the mid-thirteenth century by Zen master Enni (円爾, Enni) (1202-1280), and again in the sixteenth century with donations of buildings from nearby temples Ankokuji (安国寺, Ankoku-ji) and Tofukuji. Kenninji Temple offer ‘zazen’ (Zen meditation) practice and a lecture in the morning of the 2nd Sunday of the month (except in August). Cherry Blossom at Kenninji Temple Kenninji Temple Architecture Today Kenninji Temple buildings include the Abbot’s Quarters (Hōjō), given by Ankoku-ji in 1599; the Dharma Hall (Hatto), built in 1765; a tea house built in 1587 to designs by tea master Sen no Rikyū for Toyotomi Hideyoshi; and the Imperial Messenger Gate (Chokushimon), said to date from the Kamakura era (1185–1333), and still showing marks from arrows. It also has fourteen subtemples on the Kenninji Temple precincts and about seventy associated temples throughout Japan. In 2002, the architectural setting was enhanced by a dramatic ceiling painting of two dragons by Koizumi Junsaku (小泉淳作, Koizumi Junsaku) (1924-). This bold artwork was installed to commemorate the temple’s 800th anniversary. Address: 584 Komatsu-cho, Higashiyama-ku, near Gion in Kyoto, Japan Telephone : 075-561-0190 Open : 10:00a.m.-4:00p.m. Closed : From December 28th to 31st Access : City Bus to “Shijo-Keihan-mae” or “Higashiyama-yasui”. Fee (Grounds) : Free Fee( Main building) : General: 500 yen                                 Elementary School Students and under: Free (Article based on Wikipedia article and used under the GNU Free Documentation License) | | |