Sanjusangendo and Toshiya Festival

While I was researching what to see and do in Kyoto, I realized that we were going to be in town for the Toshiya archery competition.  Held at Sanjusangendo Temple since 1606, the traditional goal was to shoot the length of the temple and awards were given for various achievements such as most hits out of 1000 shots and most hits on target in 24 hours.  By the way, the temple is extremely long; the name of the temple is actually a description of its length, meaning 33 (san-ju san) spaces between the columns.

Archers trying to keep warm while waiting for the contest to begin.  By the way, although it was cold, it was really a good time of year to visit because this was the only place that was really crowded the entire time we were there.  Kyoto attracts huge crowds in both the spring (for the cherry blossoms) and the fall (for the autumn leaves).

 The exterior of the temple really isn’t noted for anything other than its length.  Inside however—where, yet again, you can’t take pictures—there are 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy.  There is one central statue complete with 11 heads (to hear the cries of the suffering) and 1000 arms (to reach out to those in need), flanked by 500 life-size statues on either side, each one with 40 arms (each arm can symbolically save 25, therefore totaling 1000 again).  The statues were carved from wood in the 12th and 13th centuries.

A monk makes his way across the courtyard.  In addition to the archery festival, a special mass was being said that morning and as we filed through the temple looking at the statues, I think we got sprinkled with some Buddhist holy water.  Actually there were many features of the temple and temple rites that reminded us of Catholicism.

Temple gardens in the snow.

I LOVE this shot and am so proud of it.  For the record, it is un-edited and un-cropped.  You take a thousand pictures and eventually you end up with something really good.

This shot is a little more cliche, but still . . . I was there; I saw it; I shot it.  

More gardens in the snow.

And then we left to find some place warmer and less crowded.  For an Oki friends I might have reading this, the place we found was CoCo Curry :)  On to the next adventure!