The Second Day in Kyoto

Fushimi Inaari

In the morning, we went to a temple called the Tofukuji Temple.  There was a Zen Garden here.  The garden had rocks in various formations.  This symbolized plasma, air, water and land.  In the temple complex, there was also a rest house for monks in the old days.  It is one of the five Zen temples of Kyoto (or one of the Kyoto Gozan).

After the Zen garden, we went to a mountain temple called Fushimi Inaari.  The mountain trail was lined with orange gate-like structures.  This is the temple's claim to fame.  The trail was lined with many small shrines.  There were also some statues of many holy animals.  The Shinto belief is that all of nature should be worshiped and revered.

The Golden Temple

We had lunch and then went to the Kinkakuji Temple (or the Golden Temple).  This temple was a royal guest house in the past.  The lakeside building is golden all over, and we could see a reflection of it in the lake.  In the backdrop were beautiful mountains.  The overall setting was nothing short of breathtaking.  There were orchids and lotuses all around.

Following our visit to the Golden Temple, we went to the Gion Shopping District and Kyoto Downtown.