Kinkakuji Temple

Kinkakuji Temple a.k.a. Golden Temple in Kyoto

We were here on 1st July 2007 (Sunday)

The "Golden Temple" is one of Kyoto's best-known attractions, and is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1994.

After passing through the entrance gate, you walk past a high bamboo fence lining the walkway, and then suddenly you see this magnificent building, the Golden Temple (or Pavilion as it is sometimes known). Surrounded by a lake its reflection shimmers in the clear water and as you walk around the lakeside paths you see the temple from different angles. Such a spectacular sight!

Kinkakuji was originally built in 1397 as a villa for Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), third Ashikaga Shogun. Eleven years after Yoshimitsu's death, the villa was converted into a Zen temple and for centuries it was a place of worship, known as the Rokuonji. However, on 2nd July 1950, a 21 year-old slightly mad temple priest set fire to the Kinkaku-ji. The temple was burned to the ground, and the young man arrested. He confessed that he wanted to die in the flames.
In 1955, an exact replica was erected, so what you see today is not the original one and further restoration was done in the 1990's extending the gold-foil covering to the lower floors as well and it is tryly magnificent.