Shōren-in

Shōren-in (青蓮院) is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan.

Shōren-in (青蓮院)
Front yard in Shinden
Religion
AffiliationBuddhism
Location
LocationKyoto
CountryJapan
Architecture
Completed13th Century

History

It was built in the late 13th century. Shinran Shonin, the founder of the Jodo Shinshu pure land sect, was ordained a monk at Shōren-in at the age of nine.

Shōren-in was formerly the temple of the imperial abbot of the Tendai headquarters on Mount Hiei; the abbot was required to be chosen from the imperial family or high court aristocracy. After the Great Kyoto Fire of 1788, it was used as a temporary imperial palace for Empress Go-Sakuramachi. It was therefore also known as the Awata Palace. Her study room was converted into a tea room called Kobun-tei.[1] The main hall was rebuilt in 1895.

The temple complex contains a garden with massive eight-hundred-year-old camphor trees (kusunoki), and a pond filled with large stones and fed by a small waterfall.

The modern artist Hideki Kimura created a number of fusuma sliding doors with blue lotus motifs to evoke the Pure Land.[2][3][4]

References

See also

Apparent to Photo Travel.

Media related to Shōren-in at Wikimedia Commons

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