Frozen moments from the infinity that is time


Kinkakuji (Kyoto)

The crown jewel of a visit to Kinkakuji is the famous Golden Pavilion and the image everyone wants to see is that of a shimmering pavilion reflected in the water of Kinkakuji’s pond. Unfortunately I was met with an overcast sky and breezy conditions that rippled the water, thus the favoured image was not seen. I have, however, shown a selection of images (pics 1 to 4) of the Golden Pavilion from a variety of angles.

If one looks closely at the images it will be seen that only the second and third floors are covered in gold leaf and that each of the three floors represent different architectural styles. The ground or first floor is built in the style of a Japanese Palace, which is not suited to a gold leaf finish. The second floor represents the samurai style and was used for composing poetry, whereas the third floor used for meditation is in the old Chinese style. If viewed only from afar and head-on, it is understandable how visitors could form the mistaken view that the entire pavilion is golden.

Apart from the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji’s grounds contain reminders of past legends. The Toryumon (pic 5), which translates as “gateway to success”, looks, at face value, like a simple waterfall.  However, the elements of water and rock symbolise an old Chinese legend that only carp could swim up a waterfall and by so doing, the carp would become a dragon. The waterfall is known as Ryumon-baku (Dragon Gate Waterfall) and the rock as Rigyo-seki (carp stone). In modern-day terms, Toryumon is a reminder that tackling and overcoming difficult challenges can lead to success in life.

The small White Snake Pagoda (pic 6) located on a knoll in the pond is based on another legend. Apparently Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi era, had many mistresses, one of whom grew jealous of his other mistresses and threw herself into the pond and became a white snake. Yoshimitsu built the White Snake Mound to console her soul, which in turn led to the belief that a white snake is the symbol of jealousy. An alternative view is that it honours the previous owners of the area (the Hosokawa family), for whom the white snake was their guardian deity.

Also within the grounds one finds Sekkatei (pics 7 and 8), which dates back to the 17th century, though the current structure was constructed in 1884 following a fire in 1874 that destroyed the original teahouse. Sekkatei is a good example of modest teahouse design in order to focus attention on the tea ceremony itself. To the left of the alcove in pic 7 one can see a crooked supporting pillar. The pillar is apparently a rare example made from wood from a Nandin tree, which is a very slow growing tree and rarely produces pillars of this size..

I look forward to revisiting Kinkakuji and one day sharing the classic image everyone wants to see. Next time I will check the forecast in advance.
