Other Gardens: Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu

by aleks

3/1/2012 • Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu

Traveling or visiting  anywhere I'm naturally drawn to gardens, especially if they have some local or native characters;  among all the gardens the Japanese, Buddhist or Shinto  themes get my instant attention, so when my husband mentioned the Byodo-In Temple during our present visit to Hawaii Islands, I was ready to go in no time.

3/1/2012 • Gardens in Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu: Black swans and koi

The Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu is a replica of a 900-year-old Buddhist place of worship at Uji in Kyoto prefecture of Japan.  Surrounding the temple are large koi ponds that cover a total of two acres, and  around those ponds are lush Japanese gardens set against a backdrop of towering cliffs of the Ko'olau mountains.

From wiki: [...]

Byodo-In Temple is a half-size-scale replica of the Byodo-in Temple, a United Nations World Heritage Site near the ancient city of Kyoto, originally a monastery founded by Fujiwara no Yorimichi in 1052 of the Heian period. It was famous for its Dainichi Nyorai statue.. The statue was lost and replaced in 1053 with a large wooden statue of Amitabha (Amida Nyorai), a national treasure of the Empire carved by the Japanese artisan Jocho. Amida Buddha stands in the midst of the Phoenix Hall or Hoodo, an artistic reproduction of Amitabha Tathagata's Western Pure Land. It is called Phoenix Hall in reference to the two phoenixes stretching their wings upon the temple roof. 52 wooden images of Bodhisattvas surround the Amida Buddha, dancing and playing musical instruments on floating clouds.

Since 2001, Byodoin Temple has undergone restoration that will continue through 2007 in the spirit of preservation of Japan's ancient heritage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byodo-In_Temple

3/1/2012 • Gardens in Byodo-In Temple in O'ahu: feral cat on the headsone

On the ponds we saw black swans and variety of local birds in the most serene surroundings.  There is a cemetery right outside of the temple,  and when we drove in we saw a feral cat (I understand cats are NOT pets in Hawaii), making himself completely comfortable on one of the headstones.
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P.S. Sorry for this post being somewhat scarce and insufficient: the internet connection from the middle of the Pacific Ocean is intermittent and not quite reliable. Aloha.