Kennin-ji

This is the Kennin-ji, the oldest zen temple in kyoto. [zenn is one of the main branches of japanese buddhism. At present, there are 3 branches of Zen in Japan- the Rinzai, Soto and Obaku schools]. This Kennin-ji belongs to the Rinzai tradition and it was founded in 1202 by the priest Yousai.

Geishas that we managed to meet in front of the Kennin-ji entrance.

garden inside the temple

this is the hatto or Dharma Hall that was built in 1765. It is also used as the main hall of the Zen temple.

These twin dragons paint were placed against the ceiling of the Dharma Hall. The paint was completed by an artist under two years using the finest quality of ink drawn on thick traditional Japanese paper.

again, great landscape offer to the guests

I do not know the exact function of this area but to me it is a place for the visitor to lay back and relax. Considering that is hard to get a place that is 'physically' clean, we then decided that this spacious area is a perfect space for us to perform our solah ^.^