Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Blood Ceilings at Genkoan Temple


Is that a foot print? Oh yes it is! And you can see that not on the floor of the Genkoan Temple but on the ceiling! What's even more interesting about this foot print was that it was actually a blood print. These wooden boards used to be a part of the Fushimi Castle where a number of samurais committed seppuku when the castle was about to fall to Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1600. The castle wasburnt  down to ashes but the hall where these floor boars came from (fortunately or unfortunately) survived. For the repose of the souls of the samurais who lost their lives in that castle, the floor boards were distributed to several temples around Kyoto, Genkoan, being one of them. 

While the other attraction of the Gekoan Temple - the round and square windows - would be good to look at, never forget  to look up for some foot prints (and blood stains!) on the ceilings! 

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