Daisen-in, Buddhist temple and rock garden in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Daisen-in is a temple with carefully designed rock gardens located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, as a sub-temple within the Daitoku-ji complex. The site shows several garden areas around the central hall, where white gravel and arranged stones shape the space.
The temple was built between 1509 and 1513 by Zen priest Kogaku Soko and is now counted among Japan's important monuments. Unlike many other structures in the Daitoku-ji complex, this temple was spared from the major fires.
The garden uses stones and gravel to show landscapes like mountains and streams, following Chinese painting ideas. As you walk through the halls, you can see these natural scenes created in stone.
Access is through the larger Daitoku-ji grounds, where pathways clearly connect the various temple buildings. Good footwear is useful, since surfaces around the gardens vary in their condition and composition.
The white gravel surfaces are not randomly raked but follow a pattern meant to show different life stages. Many visitors notice only when looking closely that these patterns resemble a flowing river moving through separate garden zones.
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