Shoren-In is a pleasing temple which was a lot smaller in comparison to some of the others we saw. It was built in 1895 and was originally the home of the chief abbot of the Tendai School of Buddhism. One thing it had going for me was the opportunity to take pictures of the interior, which was home to some fine examples of traditional Japanese painting, decoration and sliding screens, many of which date back 300 to 400 years.
By the time we visited Shoren-In, I was beginning to understand that no trip to a temple or shrine in Kyoto would be complete without a stroll through a beautiful garden. Shoren-In did not disappoint in this area.
The garden also had a small bamboo forest, which is something I had never seen in person before, so that was interesting in and of itself.
Various statues also populated the compound...
Including this one with its left-facing swastika which has been a symbol of luck and good will in Buddhist and Hindu traditions long before Hitler and the Nazi Party appropriated the right-facing version of the symbol in 1920. Despite the fact that I know about its history, it is still somewhat shocking to see any version of a swastika in person (and they are very prevalent throughout Asia) because of the political and social associations it has in the Western world.
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