談山神社

談山神社

6.26.2011

Temple in Hydrangea and Temple in Beauty of Wabi

 Yata Temple
Main temple  of Yata Temple



I had a good chance to visit a temple of hydrangea(Yata Temple )just after the rain.
Yata temple is famous for hydrangea. About 8000 hydrangeas entertain us. They were at their best time in the valley of the temple. It took us about 30 minutes  walk around there.  Thousands kind of blue, purple,red , pink  appeared vividly in the " valley of hydrangea"
After leaving our car, We had  to climb up a lot of staircase to the temple and we prayed " Jizo- Bosatu"at a main temple. This temple is dedicated to Jizo- Bodhissattva. Many jizo statues( Ojizosama) were placed in the temple.

many Ojizosama are placed inside temple



Ojizosama stand on the edge of cyozu-bachi  beside corridor



Hydrangea HydrangeaHydrangea






What color  are you turning with light and water together from babypink?


People admires splendor and stops to take photos. We can't go ahead soon because of narrow rainy path.  But nobody complain. Everyone are willing to wait.  Flowers make us gently.


We call here Valley of hydrangea. Beautiful hydrangea were filled over the wall of valley.








This temple joins "Yamato 13 Buddh Sacred Places" ,which  means a group of 13 temples in Nara prefecture that enshrines Buddha or Bodhisattva etc. The association of 13 temples suggests to pray those Buddhas to respect our ancestors or fulfill our wishes and give a mount that we get a vermail seal as proof of visiting.  So we got  vermeil seal of this temple and will visit the other 12 temples. But when will we finish to visit all? Because we started visiting of "Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage" (  88 temples in Shikoku where are sacred place of Kobo-Daisi) 8 years ago but we don't finish visiting all, though we visited  about one third.


We had "Shojin Ryori"(cooking used vegitables not meat, fish etc) called "Ajisai Gozen"( Ajisai means hydrangea and gozen means cooking) for lunch inside the temple. It's a usual Shojin Ryori like Tenpura of vegetable ,Gomadofu,Takenoko boiled and seasoned etc. Foe me, Fu (a breadlike food made of wheat) boiled down in sweetened soy tasted good.



Ajisai-gozen



Thank you for marvelous color!


Jikoin Temple

On the way back home, we dropped at Jikoin Temple. It's very near Yata Temple.  When I entered into the entrance, even I felt  beauty of this temple's simpleness, plain, neatness and it didn't seem to be usual temple.

Garden from a drawing room.  A well-kept garden


This garden borrows a view of Yamato plain behind. I think there were not buildings behind before. We had a cup of tea  and sweets  in the shape of heraldry of the Katagiri  on the red carpet . A cool wind came from Yamato plain to us. Very comfortable. Moon Viewing is hold here on the night of the harvest moon of Autumn.
 According to a guide paper, Sekishu Katagiri( feudal lord of this area) built it for family temple in 16 century. He engaged a high priest of Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto as a ahead of the family temple. He received Zen Buddism and Tea Ceremony from the priest and put his "Beauty of Wabi" theory into practice.

So this temple had taste of tea ceremony, such as approach from entrance, garden, tea room, gate etc.
That is to say, my first impression  that this temple is neat was correct, though everyone can feel it.




Temple Gate . It's thatched roof.

Approach from the outside gate. The stony road was spattered with water or rain. I felt it water to entertain guests.


15 件のコメント:

Tomoko さんのコメント...

Hi,Sarah!
アジサイがこんなに、華やかに沢山咲くのですね!私が矢田寺に行った時は満開ではありませんでした。visitor も少なかったですよ。1枚目と5枚目の紫とピンクのアジサイは特に見事!!!やはり雨が上がった後のアジサイは生き生きしています。お地蔵さんの顔、愛嬌がありますね。
なんとアジサイご膳まで堪能されたとは!美味しそう!でもお茶はヤカンで入れてくれたのですね~~.ご膳とのミスマッチがとても愉快です。次回はjikoin にも寄ってみたいと思います!
Thank you for sharing this,Sarah.

cosmos さんのコメント...

How gorgeous and beautiful those hydrangeas are! They sure are now enjoying their prime time. Mimurotoji temple I went to the other day is making a boast of 10,000 hydrangeas now but I think Yata temple also deserves its fame as a temple of hydrangeas.

I have been to Jikoin temple several years ago with family members to have dinner in celebration of my mother-in-low's sanju (80 year-old).
Small scaled temple but you could feel the "tea-hospitality" in the whole atomosphere.
Thank you for great pictures, sarah.

stardust さんのコメント...

You captured well the colorful chorus of hydrangeas mingled with your excitement! Though this year I went there two weeks earlier than their prime time, I've been to there at their best time. The valley was so crowded as I see in your photo. Good for you to be able to take pictures.

What I like about Jiko-in is that rooms and garden become one with wide opened sliding doors and wabi-sabi spirit found every corner.

Thank you for this enjoyable post.

sarah さんのコメント...

Redrose.
I agree with your impression for the kettle. The temple has many rooms and maybe let 13or 14 guests into a room. Few servers carry many trays with legs sweatily.
Also we went to reserve lunch to the information desk of the temple.The receptionist said "we are boiling rice now, come at 1:30 again." Enjoyable treatment and so does the kettle.
Thank you for comment.

sarah さんのコメント...

Cosmos,
Can we have dinner at Jikoin Temple? If so, can anyone reserve it?
In this season hydrangea are blooming around here in Kansai area but hydrangea in Mimurotoji and Yata temple are awesome, I think.
But where can we go to see floweres near here during hot season.
Thank you for comment.

sarah さんのコメント...

Stardust,
I had all the luck to see full bloom of hydrangea. Indeed,I had watched your three blog of Yata Temple and after about ten days my younger daughter came back home and said that let's go see temple somewhere. I thought Yata Temple is good time to visit.So thank you for information.
At Jikoin, I could feel wabi at first maybe.
Thank you for comment.

cosmos さんのコメント...

Hi sarah,
What I meant by "dinner" here is the main dish of the day so we had feast for lunch.
My brother-in-low likes temples and has a lot of acquaintances in temples of Nara. He made a reservation there at that tme.
I think reservation will be accepted anytime.

snowwhite さんのコメント...

Sarah, you were so lucky that you could visit the temple when hydrangeas were in full bloom. It is always very difficult to capture shots of flowers at best.
Ajisai-gozen looks so yummy.
Next year, I'll try to enjoy it!

I'm very sorry for the temple. It is such a lovely temple but the beauty of the borrowed landscape garden is hurted by modern buildings.

Sarah, I always enjoy your blogs from the view of your unique angle,
and love your photos.

Have a great week!

sarah さんのコメント...

Cosmos,
Thank you for response about Jikoin. After I asked it to you, a supplementary newspaper just featured feast of some restaurant in Nara. One of them was Jikoin's feast. If I have a chance to have it I want to visit.

sarah さんのコメント...

Snowwhite,
I think we can have Ajisai-Gozen at two places. One is a private shop where is near entrance and the other is run by the temple.I had it inside the temple's room. But rice cooker may be small,I wonder. Because when I went the reception of the temple to reserve the receptio clerk said "we are boiling rice now so come again at 1:30. We serve for 13 people." On the day many people must have eaten it and I was one of the last groupe.
But their emtertainment amused to me.
Thank you for comment.

Tania さんのコメント...

How wonderful! Great and colorful flowers. I have a Hydrangea in my garden, but it`s so small..

Thanks for your visit! Happy week:-)

sarah さんのコメント...

Hi,Spiderdama.
Thank you for comment.
I have hydrangea in my garden,too.
For this rainy season,( it's in the rainy season in Japan now) they are very fine.

haricot さんのコメント...

Oh, It's a little late that I noticed your new post! How lovely.
The season of nydrangeas in Yata temple must have been over, but thanks to your post I enjoyed the colorful hydrangeas and the atmosphere around the main temple.
You and your hisband are visiting 88temples? How highly motivated!

sarah さんのコメント...

To tell the truth,we intended to go around 88 temples on our way to the shikoku. But we couldn't go more temples than we expected. In addition we came to unnecessary to go to shikoku. But I hope fulfillment some day.
Thank you for comment,Haricot.

Tania さんのコメント...

Thank you for your concern. I do not live in Oslo, but I was born there.
An unbelievable tragedy for Norway, the saddest day ever..