Page 50 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 30

Another interesting fact is amazingly the canal that the
path follows is part of the Lake Biwa Canal, which
tunnels through the mountains and is 12.5 miles long
and connects the canal to Lake Biwa in the nearby
prefecture of Shiga! The canal was built during the Meiji
Period to revitalise the local economy and said to have
been used to power Japan’s first hydroelectric power
plant. There is also a lovely and beautiful aqueduct
around Nanzenji which is part of the canal.
Eikando Temple (Eikan-do Zenrin-ji)
Once we had come to the southern end of the
Philosopher’s Path we came across Eikando Temple,
with its grounds and garden being stunning especially
with the autumn colours, which turns out the temple is
very famous for. The temple was formally known as
Zenrinji Temple and belongs to the Jodo Sect of
Japanese Buddhism. The temple has a long history of
which there are a variety of buildings and a beautiful
pond garden to explore.

The temple was converted from a villa in the Heian
Period (710-1185) which was donated by a court noble
Autumn colours blend tastefully
with the Philosopher’s Path, to his local priest. The temple’s original name was
leading to the Eikando Temple. Zenrinji ‘temple in a calm grove’. In the 11th century, the
temple had a popular head priest named Eikan, after
which the temple derived its current popular name
Eikando. Eikan is credited with acquiring the temples
main object of worship, an unusual statue of the Amida
Buddha with his head turned sidewards. Which
according to legend; Eikan was walking through the
temple one day, when the statue, which was originally
facing forward, turned its head towards the priest and
talked to him!
Once we had entered Eikando’s stunning grounds, we
walked around the impressive temple main building and
followed the path which led to stairs that climbed up the
mountain side to Eikando’s famous two storey Tahoto
A path led to stairs that
climbed up the mountain Pagoda, which was nestled within the trees in the
side to Eikando’s famous hillside, overlooking Kyoto. This turned out to be the
two storey Tahoto Pagoda. ideal lunch stop, to have our sandwiches that we had
purchased that morning from the Lawsons, one of
Japan’s many convenience stores. As mentioned in our
previous article, we often purchase our lunch in the
morning, so to eat on the go, saving time and making
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