東本願寺

About this photo

Two halls with huge roofs stand side by side in the wide temple grounds. A single tree stands in front of the building on the left, and in front of the hall on the right, people appear as tiny dots.

The halls of Higashi Honganji burned in the great fire that followed the Kinmon Incident of 1864. Work on rebuilding them began in 1880, and they were completed in 1895. When Kyoto Meishocho (Album of Famous Places in Kyoto) came out in 1909 (Meiji 42), only about 14 years had passed since the rebuilding. The Goeido (Founder's Hall) is 76 meters wide and 38 meters high. In area it is larger than the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji, and it is counted among the largest wooden buildings in the world.

The rebuilding needed strong ropes to haul the huge timbers, so ropes called kezuna were made by twisting hemp together with hair donated by women followers across the country. A kezuna 69 meters long is still on display in the corridor linking the Goeido and the Amidado (Amida Hall).

Glossary