Higashi Honganji Temple

JAPAN, Kyoto

Higashi Honganji, or Eastern Temple of the Original Vow, is the head temple of the Otani branch of the True Pure Land school. Construction of the temple started in 1602 during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. The temple was expanded in 1641 during the Edo period. It was damaged by four fires during the Edo period (1615–1868) and the current structures date from the Meiji period (1868–1912).
The main buildings include the founder’s hall, Amitabha Hall, White Study Room, Black Study Room, and Amitabha Hall Gate. The construction of the founder’s hall started in 1879 and ended in 1895. The hall has a double-eave hip-and-gable roof and faces east. A statue of Shinran, founder of the True Pure Land school, is enshrined within the hall, which is 38 m high, 58 m wide and 76 m long. The Amitabha Hall, located next to the founder’s hall, was completed in 1895. It has a hip-and-gable roof, and is 29 m high, 47 m long and 52 m wide. There is a statue of a standing Amitabha Buddha enshrined within the hall, and portraits of Prince Shotoku and patriarchs of the True Pure Land school along either side. The Amitabha Hall Gate, which was rebuilt in 1911, has a cypress hip roof with curved bargeboards at the front. The two-story founder’s hall gate is approximately 28 m high. Statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and Ananda are enshrined within the gate.