Sanjusangendo

Sanjusangendo — formally known as Rengeo-in — is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward housing the most dramatically arresting interior of any temple in Japan: a single hall 120 meters long containing 1,001 life-size gilded statues of the Thousand-Armed Kannon (Senju Kannon), the Bodhisattva of compassion. The hall, originally built in 1164 under the patronage of Emperor Go-Shirakawa and reconstructed after a fire in 1266, is Japan's longest wooden building, and the experience of standing within it — facing row after row of golden, flame-haloed Kannon figures receding in both directions — is overwhelming in its scale and spiritual intensity. The central figure is a massive seated Kannon over 3.3 meters tall, carved in 1254 by the celebrated Buddhist sculptor Tankei at the age of 82, flanked on each side by 500 standing Kannon of slightly smaller scale, all dated to the Kamakura period. Before the standing Kannon rows stand 28 guardian deity statues representing the protectors of Buddhist teaching, rendered with extraordinary naturalistic detail and expressive ferocity. The name Sanjusangendo means 'hall with 33 intervals between columns,' a reference to the architectural bay system of the building. Photography is prohibited within the main hall, and visitors are expected to maintain a quiet and respectful atmosphere appropriate to an active place of worship. An exterior garden and covered veranda run the full length of the hall's east side; the January Toshiya archery ceremony, in which archers shoot from the south end of the veranda to the north target across 60 meters, has been held here since 1606 and draws large audiences for this ancient ritual. The temple is conveniently located near Kyoto Station.