2020-07-25 Sat

Byodo-in Buddhist temple is situated in Uji city of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the Heian period [794 to 1185 AD]. Interestingly, two different sects of belief jointly consider this as their religious place. Those two sects are Jodo-shu and Tendai-shu.

This temple was originally built in 998 AD as a rural villa for a high-ranking courtier. After his death, it was sold to Fujiwara clan by his widow. The villa was made into a Buddhist temple by his son Fujiwara no Yorimichi in 1052 AD.

It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto in 1994.

The main building of Byodo-in is the Phoenix Hall consists of a central hall. It is flanked by twin wing corridors on both sides of the central hall, and a tail corridor. The central hall has Amida Buddha and roof displays Chinese Phoenix statues called hoo in Japanese.

In 1951, the Japanese government issued 10 Yen coin where Byodo-in Buddhist temple is displayed.

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia.com