Namu Amida Butsu - Adoration be to Budha Amitabha

Two views of the Hasedera Temple where Hase Knnon is worshipped.

As usual, Saurav did all the research and came up with the travel plan to Kamakura and Enoshima.

Kamakura was the Capital of Japan during 12th to 14th Century. Kamakura is a temple town with many important Budhist temples spread over the small town.

We took the train to Kamakura from  Yokohama by around noon. Being a holiday the town was overflowing with people.

There was a large que to the Kamakura temple and we decided that it will take hours before we could enter and it is better to skip Kamakura and proceed to Hase where the "Daibutsu" or the great Buddha of Kamakura is located.

Meanwhile it was 1.30 and we went into the T Side restauruant for an Indian Lunch. We did see another Indian restauraunt, Mony's by the side of the main temple, but Saurav preferred T side because they had Dosa!

The Chef was from Chennai, but spoke Malayalm as well. He fed us Masala Dosa and Rice with Rasam, Sambar and curry, all hot and steaming. We enjoyed the meal very much.

After the meals, we returned to Kamakura station and went to the Enoden line platform. There was a huge crowd waiting for the train. We did not get the first train, but managed to get into the second one. It was like the locals in Mumbai. People literally standing on each others toes. We were afraid whether we will be able to get out at Hase. Luckily half the crowd got down at Hase and we too. It was a short walk to the Kotokuin Temple. We paid the small fee to enter the temple premises and went into the temple. The view was impressive.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu) is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha, which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. With a height of 13.35 meters, it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan, surpassed only by the statue in Nara's Todaiji Temple.

The statue was cast in 1252 and originally located inside a large temple hall. However, the temple buildings were destroyed multiple times by typhoons and a tidal wave in the 14th and 15th centuries. So, since 1495, the Buddha has been standing in the open air.

We went around taking pictures. I noticed that many small statues in the temple premises are of Hindu Gods and goddesses and the way of offering prayers also was very similar with bowed head and clasped palms. They even beat their cheks as some do in our temples and offer coins too.

This is the incense box infront of the statue and as you can see, the engraved goddesses in the Lotus are much similar to Goddess Saraswati! Even the main diety inside a side temple is called "Kannon" കണ്ണന്‍ in Malayalam!

We went inside the statue. It was noted there that the statues was made in 32 pieces and joined together. The joints are so good that it do not leak even now.

Next we moved to the great Hase Kannon temple (there again കണ്ണന്‍ ) called Hasedera. 

Hasedera is a temple of the Jodo sect, that is most famous for its statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The statue shows Kannon with eleven heads (Dasavatharam + 1?), each representing a characteristic of the goddess. The 9.18 meter tall, gilded wooden statue is regarded as the largest wooden sculpture in Japan, and can be viewed in the temple's main building, the Kannon-do Hall.

Hasedera is built along the slope of a wooded hill. A pretty garden with ponds is found at the base of the slope just after entering. The temple's main buildings are built further up the slope, reached via stairs. Along the way stands the Jizo-do Hall with hundreds of small statues of the Jizo Bodhisattva who helps the souls of dead children to reach the paradise.

 

 (The photo above is from Japan tourism and not by me).
Next to the Kannon-do Hall stands the Amida-do Hall, which exhibits an almost three meter tall golden statue of Amida Buddha. Nearby is also an observation deck with views over the coastal city of Kamakura and a small restaurant where Japanese sweets such as mitarashi dango, small rice flour dumplings covered with a sticky sauce made of sugar and soya sauce, and other meals, snacks and beverages are served.

Next to the temple garden at the base of the slope stands the Benten-do, a small hall that contains a figure of Benten (also known as Benzaiten), a goddess of feminine beauty and wealth. Sculptures of Benten and other minor gods can be found in a small cave (Benten-kutsu) next to the Benten-do.

 The temple was great and inside the decorations on the very large diety was quite impressive. However photgraphy was not allowed.

Because it was winter, they close up early and we could not visit the caves within the premises.

We said Sayanora to the beutiful disciples of the temple and left for Enoshima.