Ninna-ji

The temple's pagoda, as seen from the Kannon-dô (both Important Cultural Properties dating to the 1640s)

Established: 888, Emperor Uda
Japanese: 仁和寺 (Ninna-ji)

Ninna-ji, located in northwestern central Kyoto, is the head temple of the Omoro sect of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. It is considered a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)," along with sixteen other temples, Shinto shrines, and other sites.

The temple was built in the 9th century, being finally formally established and named "Ninna-ji" by Emperor Uda in 888. Emperor Uda then went on to reside on the temple grounds for roughly thirty years following his retirement.

Many of the buildings extant today at Ninna-ji date to the time of the third Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (r. 1623-1651). The temple's kondô (main hall, lit. "golden hall"), today designated a National Treasure, was formerly a part of the Kyoto Imperial Palace compound; the bell tower, Mie-dô, Kannon-dô, sutra hall, five-story pagoda, and Niô-mon (gate) all date to the time of Tokugawa Iemitsu, and are all considered Important Cultural Properties.

Compound

The main Niô-mon temple gate was constructed c. 1637-1644, in emulation of the "Japanese" (wayô) style of the Heian period.^[1]
The temple's Kondô (Golden Hall) was originally constructed in the Keichô era (1596-1615) as part of the Kyoto Imperial Palace; it was relocated to the Ninna-ji compound sometime in the Kan'ei era (1624-1644), and is today a National Treasure, as a precious surviving example of shishinden (imperial palace) architecture. Sculptures of Amida and of the Four Heavenly Kings are among the chief objects of worship housed within the hall.
The temple's Shiro Shoin ("white study") was built in 1890 to serve as a temporary shinden ("palace") following the destruction of the goten ("palace") in a fire in 1887. A new shinden was built afterwards, and this structure was then renamed the Shiro Shoin. A series of fusuma (sliding screen) paintings decorating the walls of the shoin depicting pine trees are by Nihonga painter Fukunaga Seihan, and date to 1937.

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References

Plaques on-site.

↑ The term wayô (lit. "Japanese style") was coined in the Kamakura period to refer to the architectural styles introduced from China in the Nara period and which had now become rather traditional and nativized, in contrast to the more newly introduced, and thus more foreign-seeming Chinese styles of architecture (karayô) introduced alongside Zen. See: "Wayou," JAANUS.

[1] The term wayô (lit. "Japanese style") was coined in the Kamakura period to refer to the architectural styles introduced from China in the Nara period and which had now become rather traditional and nativized, in contrast to the more newly introduced, and thus more foreign-seeming Chinese styles of architecture (karayô) introduced alongside Zen. See: "Wayou," JAANUS.

[1]