Meigetsu-in Temple;Kamakura Sightseeing Spot- 2

Meigetsu-in Temple was founded in 1180. The reason why I introduce this temple here is that the dry landscape garden with rocks and sand is very beautiful. In Kyoto there are two famous dry landscape gardens; one at Nanzen-ji Temple and another at Ryoan-ji Temple. But if you don't have enough time to go to Kyoto, you will be able to enjoy it here. This temple is within ten minutes' walk from Kita-Kamakura station of the JR Yokosuka line.
The picture above is the main building of Meigetsu-in Temple. The picture below is the dry landscape garden.

Meigetsu-in literally means Bright Moon Temple. This temple is also known as The Temple of Hydrangeas because there are a lot of hydrangeas along the path to the temple.On the way from the station to this temple there is a famous temple named Engaku-ji Temple. The following picture is flowers arranged beautifully in the main hall.

The above is a romantic picture of rabbits enjoying the full moon.

 

The Great Buddha of Kamakura in the precinct of Kotoku-in Temple;Kamakura Sightseeing Spot- 1

When you go to Kamakura, you shouldn't miss The Great Buddha. I took this picture on September 19, 2010. It was Tuesday and the weather was not nice- cloudy. But there were many sightseers as you can see in the picture.It took ten years to build The Great Buddha of Kamakura; the construction started in 1252.The height of this statue is 13.4 meters including the podium or 11.3 meters excluding it.

At first the statue was in a hall which was destroyed by a typhoon in 1334. Another hall was built to cover the statue but it was also destroyed by another typhoon in 1369. According to the explanation written on the reverse side of the entrance ticket it is unknown whether a hall was constructed for the third time. But Wikipedia says another hall was build and washed away by tsunami on Sep. 20, 1498.
Admission to Kotoku-in Temple is 200 yen.

In the picture below you can see a pair of stone gurdian dogs are welcoming you.

Written by Mitsutoshi Masunari.