garden Ryoan-ji Temple

Ryoan-ji Temple - Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto is famous for its Zen garden. Ryoan-ji Temple is considered to be one of the most notable examples of the "dry-landscape" style.

Some say Ryoan-ji Temple (竜安寺) garden is the quintessence of Zen art, and perhaps the single greatest masterpiece of Japanese culture. This Japanese temple is surrounded by low walls, an austere arrangement of fifteen rocks sits on a bed of white gravel. That's it: no trees, no hills, no ponds, and no trickling water. Nothing you could describe as romantic, distracting or pretty.

Ryoan-ji Temple

So what is it all about? Well, it certainly focuses the mind. Unlike Stonehenge, the Pyramids, Angkor Wat, Salisbury Cathedral, or the temples of Luxor, Ryoan-ji can hardly inspire you with technical achievement, religious imperative or sheer scale. But its minimalism inspires something else – contemplation, introspection, and deliberation on the transience of our own humanity.

Ryoan-ji Temple

No one knows who laid out this simple garden, or precisely when, but it is today as it was yesterday, and tomorrow it will be as it is today. Behind the simple temple that overlooks the rock garden is a stone washbasin called Tsukubai said to have been contributed by Tokugawa Mitsukuni in the 17th century. It bears a simple but profound four-character inscription: "I learn only to be contented". The rest of the grounds are worth a look too - particularly the large pond. Open daily 8am-5pm (Mar-Nov), 8.30am-4.30pm (Dec-Feb). Admission ¥500. Nearest bus stop: Ryōanji-mae.

Other moss covered gardens around the outside of the temple.

A view inside the temple itself.