Rokkaku-dō, Buddhist temple in Nakagyō-ku, Japan
Rokkaku-dō is a Buddhist temple in Nakagyō Ward, Kyoto, built with a hexagonal floor plan and a double-layered roof. The central sanctuary houses Buddhist statues and is surrounded by a landscaped garden featuring a pond.
According to temple legend, Prince Shōtoku founded the temple in 587 after a Nyoirin Kannon statue he placed in a tree refused to move. Excavations in 1974–1975 found no Asuka-period remains, and the site appears in records only from the early 11th century. The main hall was rebuilt in 1877 after repeated fires.
The temple is the origin place of Ikenobō flower arranging, and the Ikenobō school still has its headquarters in the grounds. The temple's priests have offered flowers to the Nyoirin Kannon since the 15th century, when records praised their skill. In the 15th century, the 12th head Senkei was known for tatebana, and the 13th head Sen'ō systematized its theory in the Sen'ō Kuden.
The temple is a three-minute walk from Karasuma Oike Station and opens daily from 6:00 to 17:00. Temple stamp services are available to visitors between 8:30 and 17:00.
The lottery for the Gion Festival float procession order was drawn at this temple from the Muromachi period until the end of the Edo period, not until a fixed year of 1864. The temple's bell, across Rokkaku-dori from the gate, was rung when danger threatened Shimogyō; the wartime bell was melted down and recast in 1954.
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