Kinkakuji, kyoto.....

After visiting the Nijo castle, we went to the 'golden temple of Kyoto'(Kinkakuji). Crossing the Kuromon gate, we reached the ticketing office.From there we took the entrance tickets and walked towards the gate. Along with the tickets, we got a talisman too. We couldn't make out what is written in that piece of paper. 

Talisman.

When we crossed the Somon gate, we saw the Shoro bell tower. Also there were some other buildings on the other side where entry is not allowed.

Shoro bell tower.

 After crossing the next gate, we reached the pond with the golden pavilion at its center. It is a Zen temple at northern Kyoto and is covered with gold leaves at its roofs.   It has three-storeys with its first floor built in an aristocratic style and the second one in Samurai style. The first storey is made of wood while the upper two are covered with golden plates outside. There is a statue of Phoenix bird at the top of the roof. It  seems so beautiful in the middle of Kyokochi pond surrounded by trees and plants and in the center located the golden pavilion. The water reflected the pavilion, the rocks and the surrounding garden trees just like a clear mirror.  It was really amazing.

KINKAKUJI.

 But the rain doesn't allow us to stay there for long.  We walked forward through the path passing along the pond. There were stone steps along the path which lead us to a garden with a waterfall named  Ryumon Taki.

A crane in the pond.

After walking some more steps we reached a place where kept some statues on the ground along with a bowl to put coins. There were a lot of coins thrown surrounding the statues. It resembled the practice that we have in our temples of India to put coins into boxes kept infront of the Lord's statues.

Statues of Lords.

After walking some more , we reached a teahouse built in Edo period and then we walked some more to reach the exit of the temple area.