Jun 8, 2014 - 1 min read

Exotic Beauty of Kin-gyu-in

By Larry Knipfing

Community writer

A gorgeous pine tree adorns the courtyard entrance

The outer gate is open; the inner gate closed

...Being used to weigh down the branch of the pine

These tall wooden statues had no sign to tell me what they are

Looking over the statues into the inner courtyard

And a view of the temple's beautiful garden

A monk in action, working hard on the sand design

Myoshin-ji Temple complex is one of my favorite places to visit in Kyoto, simply because I don't know what delights I am going to find each time I go there. At Kin-gyu-in, the outer gate was open, so I stepped in. Nobody was there, and the inner gate was closed. I turned back to leave when something caught my eye. And then something else. And something else again. First was a stone that was being used to weigh down the branch of a gorgeous pine tree. Second were some unique wooden statues. Third was a peak into the inner garden, where a bare-chested monk was working on the sand design. All of this in the space of five minutes, and just as I was about to leave!

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Find out more about Myoshinji Temple.

Myoshin-ji Temple & Complex Series

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By Larry Knipfing

Community writer

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Tayub Hussain 10 years ago

Awesome pictures! loved how u made 5 mins seem like an experience worth replicating! Maybe everyone should do a "what I experienced in 5 minutes" when visiting this temple.

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