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毘沙門堂のサルスベリ/Crape Myrtle in Bishamondo Temple

Writer: YuriYuri

#毘沙門堂 晩翠園の #サルスベリ が見頃でした。

A big #Crape_myrtle in #Bishamondo Temple garden was at its full bloom.

晩翠園/ Bansuien


サルスベリは「百日紅」と字が当てられており、長い期間、紅色の花を咲かせます。盛夏の緑に赤を加えてくれ、一面が華やかになります。

Crape myrtle is written "百日紅"--hundred days showy pink in Chinese characters in Japan. As it name shows, it lasts very long from the beginning to the end of summer. It's the only girl in surrounding green.


最寄りの山科駅から毘沙門堂は徒歩20分ほど、ゆるやかな上り坂になっています。最後、本堂へ向かうまでの道のりが少し大変かもしれません。急勾配の長い階段が続きます。

Walk uphill from the nearest Yamashina Station for about 20 minutes to this Buddhist temple. At the very last moment, there are steep upstairs which may take your time and energy.

毘沙門堂の階段/ Bishamondo


登り切ってまず目に飛び込むのは鮮やかな朱色。神仏習合の名残が見て取れます。

But it's worth going up to see a beautiful vermilion gate. Shinto shrines (Japanese indigenous animistic religion) are decorated with vermilion like this, but Buddhist temples usually aren't. (Well, Kyoto has too many exceptions, though.) This place is Buddhist but covered with vermilion, which shows this Buddhist temple is a complex with Shinto idea.

毘沙門堂の唐門/ Bishamondo


門跡寺院であったことから、あちこちに精巧な装飾が見られます。また襖絵は江戸初期の現物がそのまま拝見でき、見る角度によって絵が表情を変えることから「動く襖絵」として知られています。

In this temple you will see many elaborated decorations because it was once a temple taken care by the imperial lineage. Especially the paintings on sliding doors inside are known as "living painting". The pictures change as you move. The paintings are from the middle of 17th century, and prohibited to take photos since they're cultural treasure.


ここ毘沙門堂は紅葉と桜が名高く、以下の写真でも、非常にカエデが多いことがわかります(少し薄い緑になっているのがカエデです。)

Bishamondo Temple is renowned for gorgeous spring cherry blossoms and wonderful autumn colored leaves. Japanese maple trees turn its color into bright red and yellow in autumn. Can you find them in this picture below? The brighter greens are maple trees that will change in 2 months.

毘沙門堂/ Bishamondo

山科駅ターミナル周辺にも街路樹としてサルスベリが植わっていますので、是非、お花を楽しんでください。

Around the station itself, you can see crape myrtles on streets. That was also really pleasure to see.

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