We visited the Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Temple of Water – July 29, 2014 at 13.45pm) immediately after we visited Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, Japan. We do not expect the road to the temple is very uphill. Apparently all transportation; car, bus, motorcycle or bicycle, cannot directly go to the temple because the road towards the temple has narrowed. That’s why all vehicles must be parked in the parking area far below the temple. Kiyomizu-Dera Temple known as one of the most celebrated temples of Japan which was established in 778.
After walking uphill for approximately 15 minutes from the parking lot, we finally arrived in front of the shrine area. From this point, we still need to walk for about 300-400 meters up the hill to reach the top of the hill.
There are many shops and souvenir shop in both sides of the road.
And I couldn’t stop myself not to enter this interesting souvenir shop where it has two cute big cats looking to the inside through the window. I bought some souvenirs for my mom because she likes Maneki-Neko cat so much. Maneki-Neko (beckoning cat) is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. I bought some too for myself, haha.. The owner of the shop explained that the white colored one consider to be for good luck in general (happy), black for good health, and gold for money (good fortune). Overall, I spent around ¥1.100 inside this shop and lucky me; the friendly owner gave us two Japanese wooden sake mini bottle as a bonus. Yay! He said that the plain one is for my husband, and the other one is for me. Although we both did not understand what he meant, but we were both very excited and couldn’t stop smiling all the way. Arigatou gozaimasu! 🙂
It was very hot during the summer season in Japan, and we haven’t had lunch. So we decided to stop by at this restaurant on the left and had our lunch there. We thought we could order just one menu and share it for both. But apparently, they have a regulation where each person should take one order (excludes drink, because they already provide free cold ocha to the customer). Thank God, they have an English menu, and we finally ordered Cold Soba cost ¥700 and Sweet Fried Tofu Udon with Thick Sauce cost ¥850 for lunch.
Entrance fee to the temple area cost ¥300 per person. Although bustling with crowds, we both thought it was still worth it.
The DEVA Gate at Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
Temple area is huge, but, unfortunately, some of the buildings are under constructions. The Okunoin Hall, known for the temple’s secondary balcony and the neighboring Amida Hall and Shaka Hall are being renovated. However, we can see the Main Hall (Hondo), which was built over a cliff and feature a large wooden veranda supported by 139 pillars, each 15m (49 ft.) high. Wow! The view from the balcony of the main hall makes it feasible to climb the hill.
Eleven Headed and Thousand Armed Kannon Bodhisattva, which located in the Main Hall (Hondo), is famous for the power of answering prayers. No wonder there were lots of people closing their eyes, sending a prayer and doing their rituals.
What makes it more interesting for us was we can also drink the sacred Otowa Water from three different streams at the Otowa Waterfall; to confer longevity, success at school, and a fortunate love life. To drink from them, we use cups that attached to long poles. It was fun!
Click PLAY Button on below Video to see what’s inside Kiyomizudera Temple:
Before we leave the Temple, I found there is one dessert cafe near the exit gate. A lot of people queuing to get a refreshment from this cafe, but since we need to visit another place, we skipped this place. From my point of view, Kiyomizu-dera is one of the most impressive temples in Japan. Make sure to put this place on your itinerary list if you want to visit Japan.
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December 23, 2015
Hi ci, mau nanya brp lama sih waktu yg dihabiskan di Kiyomizudera? 2 jam cukup?
January 3, 2016
Hallo Maria, thank you for dropping by. Bisa 2-3 jam sih soalnya luas banget tempatnya, dan bnyk spot bagus untuk foto… 🙂
August 27, 2016
Halo mbak kira kira jalannya menanjak kayak gimana? Ada tangganya atau simply seperti mendaki bukit (for example) soalnya saya bakalan ngajak orang tua kalau rasanya terlalu menanjak kita akan skip destinasi ini (sadly)
September 17, 2016
Jalanannya menanjak seperti mendaki bukit, ga ada tangga untuk menuju Kiyomizudera Temple. Makanya supaya cepet, kita di Kyoto pindah2 temple naik sepeda aja lebih cepet, daripada harus jalan kaki dan kebanyakan tanjakan. Tp kalo ada dana lebih, apalagi kalo rame, naik taxi aja tapi memang Taxi di Jepang itu mahaaaal banget ratenya. That’s why, pas nyampe di Kyoto, kita langsung ke tempat sewa sepeda… 🙂 Dikasih maps jalur sepeda buat kunjungi tempat2 ini, jadi gak susah.. Orang2 sana juga soalnya sediakan jalur sepeda sendiri, jadi aman gak ganggu mobil2 yang lewat.. 🙂
January 22, 2017
Menarik post nya mbak. Mau tanya yg Otowa Waterfall, bagaimana urutan fungsinya ya? Dari sisi yg mengantri minum, apa fungsi waterfall di kiri yg ke1, tengah, dan yg terakhir?
February 15, 2017
Hallo Anna, thank you for visiting. Di sini, tidak ada urutan antara waterfall kiri, tengah, dan yang terakhir sama saja… Tapi betul, harus mengantri, dan pengunjung tinggal masuk ke waterfall yang sudah kosong.. Boleh diminum, atau cuci muka, atau cuci tangan.. 🙂