Tetsugaku no michi and Eikan-do temple in autumn

Tetsugaku no michi

I thought I had better finish my autumn postings (I have one more to go which is Shugakuin Imperial Villa) before continuing with my Malaysia and Turkey posts. Tetsugaku no michi is more famous for its sakuras rather than the autumn trees but at some parts of the path, you can see really beautiful colours. This picture was taken right at the end of the path, near Eikan-do temple which was my actual destination.


Eikan-do temple

The price of the ticket to enter Eikan-do during autumn went up to 1000 yen for adults. Damn pricey. The night light viewing was priced at 600 yen per person. The temple grounds are pretty big and the autumn trees were the stars of the moment.



I went there in the evening and was busy chasing the sunlight. So much so that I forgot all about the famous Buddha statue in the temple, the Mikaeri Amida (Amitabha looking back). Instead of the usual Buddha statues that faces to the front, this statue had the face looking backwards. I must have just glanced at it while I was walking....fast. Damn



As usual, the crowd during this time is horrible because Eikan-do is famous for its maple foliage. The beautiful garden with the large pond is the main attraction, in addition to the Buddha Statue.


The sand raked garden


The beautiful yellow maple tree in the small garden

Then there are two other smaller gardens, one is a sand raked garden and the other one is a smaller pond where you can sit on the wooden platform to enjoy the view.



Soon, sunset caught up with me and the light was beginning to fade when I reached the small pagoda situated slightly higher than the rest of the buildings in the temple. A beautiful but slightly hazy sunset over Kyoto City.



So finally, I had to say goodbye to Eikan-do because the people were shooing us out. They were getting ready for the night light up in about 30 minutes time. When I was leaving the place, I saw people already lining up for the night time viewing! Then it was off to dinner.