BYODOIN TEMPLE - JAPAN
The temple, located on the west bank of the Uji River, was originally a rural villa of the nobleman Minamoto-no-Toru.
In 998 A.D. in the Heian period, the villa was donated to a powerful nobleman Fujiwara-no-Michinaga, and was converted into a temple by his son Yorimichi in 1052.
Additional buildings making up the compound were burnt down during a civil war in 1336.
Byodoin features the most beautiful of Japan's few remaining Pure Land Gardens,
a garden type with a pound in front of the building , which was popular during the Heian Period.
The Phoenix Hall which was built in 1053 by a member of the Fujiwara clan,
consists of a central hall and a tail corridor. The central hall houses a great statue of Amida Buddha.
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