Tennei-ji, Buddhist temple in Kita-ku, Japan.
Tennei-ji is a Buddhist temple in the Kita district of Osaka, Japan, made up of wooden buildings set within a walled compound. The grounds include gardens and rows of stone statues arranged across the outdoor areas.
The temple was founded at the start of the Edo period, making it one of the older Zen temples in the Osaka area. It went through several rebuilding phases over the centuries but has kept its role as a place of Buddhist practice throughout.
Tennei-ji belongs to the Soto school of Zen Buddhism and sits in the Kita district of Osaka. Visitors can watch worshippers pause in front of the stone figures and look carefully at each face, a habit that gives the grounds a slow and thoughtful mood.
The temple is within walking distance of the nearest subway station, and the entrance is easy to spot from the street. Morning visits tend to be quieter, as the afternoon draws more people to the grounds.
The grounds hold around 500 stone rakan figures, each carved with a different human face, said to represent disciples of the Buddha. People come here looking for a face that reminds them of someone they have lost, and many spend a long time moving slowly between the rows.
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