Speaking
of the pagoda, here it is! This picture was taken from the steps of the main
hall. What's interesting about the pagoda is that its five stories are built on
top of a two-story office building. It was constructed using original style
architecture in 1973. The pagoda itself houses Buddha's relics that were a
present from Sri Lanka.
This
dirty-looking gate is dirty-looking for a very good reason...it's the original
gate built in 1618. It's called the Nitenmon Gate and is the only structure of
the Asakusa Kannon that survived the WWII bombing. It's designated an
Important Cultural asset by the Japanese government.
If
you hang a left at the path way just in front of the Nitenmon Gate seen above,
you see this shrine. (Please note that temples are Buddhist and shrines are
Shinto.) Called either the Asakusa Jinja Shrine or the Sanja Gongen, it
enshrines the souls of three people - the two discoverers of the statue of Kannon
in the river and the chief of the village who built the first shrine.
Please notice that on either side of the path to the shrine are more of those "doggies" seen in our Ueno Park photos. Well MG decided to look them up. After a little research, we can conclude that they aren't really doggies. They are guardian lion dogs, and the imagery is imported from China (who imported it from India). Pairs of the guardians protect the Buddha's throne and statues representing them have traditionally stood guard outside sacred buildings and temples. As their use in Japan became increasingly secularized, guardians were placed in front of palaces, mansions and tombs as well. Each pair is depicted one with mouth closed and the other with mouth open, suggesting of the inhalation and exhalation of the heavenly force and the balance of yin and yang.
So now you know. And knowing's half the battle.
To
the left, you see Yogodo Hall. It was renovated in 1994 and features a unique
roof construction with golden tail-shaped "shibi" on the top. Inside
the hall, eight buddah figures are worshipped.
And
finally, here's a statue that was very cool. We're still a little confused as to
when we're looking at "a buddah" or "the Buddah," but
this was one or the other. The statue is wearing a red bib (like that fox at the
Shinto shrine we saw in Ueno Park). Another similar statue nearby was wearing
what can best be described as a red cloth shower cap. We're not sure of the
significance of the red accessories, but we'll look it up and get back to
you.