Temples and Shrines and Gardens #2 - Silver and Gold

Let`s start with gold. Kinkaku-ji is also known as the Golden Pavilion, and with good reason. I mean, just look at it

Uh-huh it`s clad in gold! Needless to say this is a very popular place to visit, although it was not quite as packed as we thought it might be. Lots of photo takers as its reflection in the large and lovely pond is wonderful.

The original was built as a shogun`s retirement villa in 1397, but his son was more pious and converted it into a temple. All went well until 1950 when a rather over-keen young monk decided to consummate his obsession with the place by burning it to the ground. It was completely rebuilt in 1955, with even more gold leaf added. 

It is only fair that there should be a Silver Pavilion, but before you get too excited you should know that this one is only called the Silver Pavilion and isn`t in fact clad in actual silver. Now that would be ridiculous!

Ginkaku-ji (which does translate to `silver pavilion`) was another retirement villa built by another shogun (that must have been a good gig, for the retirement benefits are pretty stellar), this one in 1482. His plan was to clad it in silver (really), but he must have retired too late and never got around to it. After his death it too became a temple, but this garden has more artifice than the naturalistic Kinkaku-ji. There are amazing raked sand sections to the garden, making it look like a perfect miniature world of mountains and agricultural fields

the view from above the garden