Ninnaji (仁和寺) Temple, Kyoto

Posted by Sean Kamki June 01, 2021

Ninnaji (仁和寺) Temple, Kyoto

Established in A.C. 888, Ninnaji (仁和寺) Temple is another important and beautiful part of UNESCO World Heritage Site, "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)".

This buddhism temple is located in Omuro area in the north western part of Kyoto City. You can get there by city busses and Randen trams. It's in front of Omuro Station of the tram.

Though perhaps this temple sounds less familiar among massive famous places in Kyoto, probably this Ninnaji Temple is the most important place in Japan's historical contexts.

Why?

The reason is pretty clear. This temple was the Imperial Palace. The main hall, called Kondo (金堂), is the oldest existing ceremonial hall (Shishinden Hall, 紫宸殿) of the Imperial Palace itself.

This building was originally built in 1613 in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and it was transferred to the current place in Ninnaji Temple between 1634-1646. Thus, this Ninnaji Temple keeps frequently referred in the architectural contexts of Japan's Imperial Palaces.

Another remarkable attraction is 5 story pagoda. It's beautiful enough alone and more fantastic in April with cherry blossoms. The cherry trees in this temple are particularly called Omuro-zakura (which means "cherry blossoms in Omuro area"), which is known as late-bloom cherry blossoms. Here's a garden of human-height cherry trees and you can enjoy being surrounded by the massive cherry blossoms closely at the eye level.