Longest Wooden Building....

One of the buildings we visited in Kyoto was the Renge-o-in, a large temple complex about a mile east of the main railway station. It’s a very popular destination for visitors to the city and is usually called the Sanjusan-gendo or “Hall of 33 Bays” because the building contains 1001 golden life-sized Kanzeon statues on an altar that takes up 33 bays of the building. A 'bay' is the space between two pillars

This is one of the biggest temple buildings in Kyoto. The present hall was built in Dogen’s time to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire in 1249. Amazing that such a vast building should have survived wars and earthquakes for 800 years. To house all those statues it is nearly 120 metres (390’) long and 54 feet wide. The thirty three bays provide a reminder of the number of transformations that Kanzeon is said to employ to save all beings. The main statue on the altar is a double life size thousand armed Kanzeon flanked by an army of 500 golden Kanzeons on either side. In front are life-sized statues of the twenty eight guardian deities.

This building is a very powerful representation in carved wood and metal of those opening chapters in many Mahayana scriptures which invoke a vision of the crowds of Bodhisattvas, Devas, Heavenly Guardians and arahants that gather to hear the Buddha teach. The crowds of humans that throng through the long gallery somehow add to this impression. It’s not possible to photograph the statues inside but there are many reproductions of them available in Buddhist art books and I bought a book of stunning photographs in the gift shop.

Longest wooden building...

It's true Walter (who recommended I visit this place), nothing can prepare one for being in the presence of this array of statues. They fill the space and fill ones being. Put simply, being here 'blew me away'! The noise and bustle of the visitors, tours guides, children etc. just faded into the background.