I used to see Kiyomizu-dera Temple from the picture where there will be the old temple building standing behind the nice scenery of red leaves and I had been passionate with Kiyomizu-dera ever since. But it seemed like I was not the only one passionate with Kiyomizu-dera and I was in a mare shock when I saw all the hundreds and thousands of tourists there. Thais, Chinese, or even Japanese students coming to Kiyomizu-dera for their school field trips. Everywhere I turned there would be people and people and I could hear talking in all the different languages. I looked at where the booth selling entrance ticket for Kiyomizu-dera Temple was and the moment I saw how many people were queuing up I knew that my trip to take photo of the historical temple under the beautiful red leaves would means that I would be spending my day walking like a big tour group with all the tourists from all over the world.



Once me and my sister got inside the temple, we went along with the flow of people to the place where you could get a sip of the purified water of Otowa Waterfall. The water came in 3 little streams, one is for longevity, one is for success in work or study and the other is for a successful love life. We could choose to drink for any of these 3 streams but it would be considered greedy to drink from all 3. To think hard about from what streams to have a sip and to talk it over with your accompany, for me is also one of the nice memories I had from this trip.

After we have had a sip of the purified water, we again went with the flow of people heading to the main hall which was 13 meters above the hill that stood beneath it and this was the hall that was used in the game I used to play. While we were enjoying our time taking picture of the beautiful scenery, we came to notice that there were also many people dressed in Kimono.



To go to the photo spot for the main hall, you would have to follow the sign that would lead you in a different direction and you will than had to walk uphill to the spot that was calculated out to be the spot where you could take the most beautiful photo of the main hall with the stunning fall scenery. As I went to Kyoto in the peak of the red leaves the photo that I took had thousands of tourists standing inside the main hall and whenever I looked at this photo, I could not help but worry whether those pillars will be able to hold all those weight.



After all, I really had a great time taking lots of pictures of all the temples with the red leaves. I got to enjoy my walk at the world heritage under the nice cool weather and was able to see people from all over the world come together at Kiyomizu-dera Temple. If I get a chance to come back here again, I would definitely want to take part in the tour with the English-speaking priests of this temple who will explain to you deeply about every tower in the temple and I would also want to try doing meditation at the Jojuin as well.


Kiyomizu-dera Temple
Operating hours – opens at 6 am but the closing time differs depending on the season.
Address - 294 Kiyomizu 1-chome, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 605-0862, Japan
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KiyomizuderaTemple/?fref=ts
Website - http://www.kiyomizudera.or.jp/en