The Daibutsu (Great Buddha) of Kamakura:
You can see from the pic its imposing size that dwarfs the people in the foreground. Two interesting anecdotes about this Daibutsu. Apparently, it was once enclosed within a shrine, but the shrine was blown away by some tsunami or destroyed by an earthquake, leaving behind only the mammoth sculpture! The other thing about it is that its head had toppled a few times due to earthquake tremours! Kinda reminds me of the little mermaid sculpture in Copenhagen, Denmark, which had to suffer the indignity of having vandals sawn off her head (more than once) and thrown into the sea. The naval divers had to be called in to retrieve it and glue it back!
Toudai-ji in Kyoto:
Featured in the pic here is the 'bridge that passes through heaven' (tong tian qiao) that is located on the temple grounds. Alas, I was late by ten minutes and the ticket office closed. Could only take a pic from the other side. Looks like heaven is beyond me. But I'm content to remain on earth if it's shrouded by such beautiful autumn foliage....
Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Temple), Kyoto:
yup, it's coated with gold leaves alright. But for some reason, I wasn't too fascinated with it. As the saying goes, 'all that glitter is not gold'.
Ginkaku-ji (The Silver Temple), Kyoto:
The original plan to coat the temples here in silver leaves did not come to pass, but this temple remains the most memorable one among those I've visited. Such postcard-perfect pics:
Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle):
Not exactly a shrine, but a fortress with a moat....very imposing from the outside...
