西本願寺御影堂

About this photo

This photograph shows the Founder's Hall (Goeido) of Nishi Honganji in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. It appears in the photo album Kyoto Meisho (Famous Sights of Kyoto), published in 1907 (Meiji 40). The small figures of people in front of the hall give a sense of how big it is.

Nishi Honganji is the head temple of the Honganji branch of Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land Buddhism). In 1591 it received land from Toyotomi Hideyoshi and moved to its present site. The Founder's Hall was built in 1636, and a wooden statue of the founder, Shinran, is enshrined at its center. It was built larger than the Amida Hall, which houses the principal image, and the outer area where worshippers sit covers 441 tatami mats. This was so that large numbers of followers could gather.

A major restoration took place from 1999 to 2009, and the hall was designated a National Treasure in 2014. It is one of the largest surviving buildings from the Edo period. The temple grounds are also on the World Heritage List as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

Glossary