Byōdō-in
The Byōdō-in ( Jap. 平等院 ) is a 998 in the Heian period erbauter Buddhist temple in the Japanese city of Uji ( Kyoto Prefecture ).
As a Buddhist temple, however, the building was not established by Fujiwara no Yorimichi until 1052 . The previous owner, Minamoto no Toru , used the building as a kind of country house.
history
The Genpei War officially began with the First Battle of Uji (1180) at the bridge over the Uji-gawa near the temple and finally in the temple itself between Minamoto no Yorimasa , Prince Mochihito and warrior monks of Mii-dera on the one hand and Taira no Kiyomori on the other hand. Yorimasa committed the first recorded seppuku of a samurai in the Phoenix Hall in the face of defeat.
Temple complex
The Byōdō-in consists of a central hall flanked by two wing corridors on either side and a rear corridor. In the central hall built in 1053, also known as the Amida hall or since the early Edo period, the Phoenix hall, there is an image of Amida Buddha. On the roof of the hall there are statues of Feng Huang (in Japanese Hōō ) - often translated as a phoenix. The hall and various other objects in the Byōdō-in are national treasures of Japan .
In connection with civil war riots, other buildings burned on the site of the temple in 1336. There is a pond right in front of the temple. In 1997 it was dredged for archaeological excavations.
present
In Japan, the duration and the cultural significance of the Byōdō-in is commemorated by having its front view depicted on the 10 yen coin and one of the two phoenixes on the roof on the new 10,000 yen note.
In December 1994, the building was along with other sites in Kyoto Prefecture by the UNESCO for World Heritage Historic Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) appointed.
A true-to-scale copy of the temple was built in 1968 in the Valley of the Temples on the Hawaiian island of Oahu .
Due to major damage, the Phoenix Hall was extensively renovated from 2012 to September 2014.
The reverse of the 10 yen coin shows the phoenix hall of the Byōdō-in
Detail of the back of the 10,000 yen note
Phoenix statue on the actual Byōdō-in
Phoenix Hall ( Amitābha )
Golden Phoenix on the roof of the Phoenix Hall (September 2014)
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Official website of the Byōdō-in (Japanese)
- Information provided by Kyoto Prefecture (English)
- Information offered by the city of Kyoto (English)
- Byōdō-in temple at Culture-in-Asia: Part 1 with description - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Coordinates: 34 ° 53 ′ 21 ″ N , 135 ° 48 ′ 28 ″ E