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Otagi Nenbutsu-ji
Arashiyama is one of Kyotofs most beautiful
neighbourhoods, and hundreds of thousands of tourists visit there every
year, but unfortunately, almost no one ever makes it to the areafs most
interesting temple. Itfs called Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, and it has some of the
funniest, most fascinating and beautiful Buddhist sculptures in the entire
country.
Originally founded by Emperor Shotoku in the middle of the eighth
century, this temple has had some seriously bad luck. It was first built in
the Higashidera area of Kyoto, but was destroyed by a flood of the Kamo
River, and was rebuilt as a branch of Enryaku-ji, the famous Tendai sect
temple on Mt. Hiei. Its main hall was burned to the during a civil war in
the thirteenth century, and after moving to its present location in
1922, it suffered severe damage in a typhoon.
From the road, Otagi Nenbustu-ji looks like a very ordinary temple,
but after passing through the gate, with its two typically terrifying Nio
statues (the fierce looking guardians one often finds at the entrance to
temples), you will notice two more Nio, and these definitely tend toward the
cute, rather than the ferocious end of the spectrum.
These kawaii guardians are just the beginning though, and
there are more than 1200 statues on the templefs grounds. Walking up the
path to the main hall, there are dozen or so strange little faces peering
down at you, most of them half-hidden in the tall grass. Although they will
give you some hint of the strangeness you are about to encounter, most
visitors are still shocked when they see the hundreds of bizarre figures
carved in grey stone by the main hall of the temple.
These statues are called rakan, and they represent the 500
disciples of Buddha. Although many Buddhist sculptures are carved to
represent exquisite beauty or terrifying ferociousness, rakan almost
always seem to be carved in the spirit of humour and good fun. There are
also Rakan-ji temples in Otaru (Hokkaido) and Oita (Kyushu) with carvings
every bit as bizarre as those at Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, but the statues here are
special because most of them were made by amateur carvers.
In 1981, when the 1950 typhoon damage was finally repaired,
worshippers at the temple decided to donate rakan sculptures to the
temple in honour of its refurbishing. A famous sculptor, Kocho Nishimura
taught hundreds of sculptors, amateur and professional alike how to carve
statues from stone, and the result is a delightful mix of serene and scary,
somber and silly.
Spend a few hours there and see if you can find the surfing Buddha,
the two tipplers, the saxophone player, the photographer and the disciple
doing a handstand. Since the installation of the Rakan, a custom has evolved
among visitors to the temple of trying to find a statue that resembles your
own face. It can be fun, but you may be in for a shock if you go with
someone else and are suddenly told that the buck-toothed, bowl cut-sporting
statue with a nose the size of a potato looks a lot like you.
The temple must be one of the mossiest, most eroded places in
Kansai, and walking its grounds, one has the distinct impression that man is
fighting a losing battle with nature here. All in all itfs a very mysterious
place, always a little dark and always the moss on the statues and the way
they are being eroded just adds to the atmosphere.
Getting There:
From Kyoto station, take bus 72 to Otagidera Mae (ˆ¤“†Ž›‘O).
From Hankyu Arashiyama station, take bus 62 or 72 to Otagidera Mae. If you
know Arashiyama, go to
Adashino
Nenbutsu-ji and follow the walking path north.
You'll come to Otagi in about 10 minutes.
To see more photos, visit my Quirky Japan photos page for
April 2004.
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