<< Our Photo Pages >> Mii-dera temple - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Japan in Honshū
Submitted by Aska on Tuesday, 05 February 2019 Page Views: 750
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Mii-dera temple Alternative Name: 三井寺, Onjō-ji 園城寺Country: Japan Region: Honshū Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Ōtsu (Shiga pref.) Nearest Village: Onjōji-chō 園城
Latitude: 35.013560N Longitude: 135.852550E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Honshū
The temple's formal name is Onjō-ji (園城寺), and the the place name of surrounding area is Onjōji-chō (chō=town), but people call it Mii-dera (三井寺) "The Fountain temple". The temple have suffered several fires and destructions but the fountain is kept in a small building with fine wooden decorations called "akaiya" beside the main building of the temple.
Close to 'akaiya' there is a curious stone setting. This is believed to be the original construction since the temple's origin in the 7th century, a prototype of Japanese garden combining fountain and rocks like Jonokoshi. "Aka-i-ya" means 'offering water-fountain-housing', "aka" the Buddhist term for sacred water is believed to be derived from 'aqua'.
Mii-dera is also well known for the solemn sound of its bell, regarded as one of the 3 greatest bells in Japan.
Open 8:00-16:30 all year round. Admission 600 Japanese Yen (2024 price). Official web-site in English. The sub-temples in the precinct Kōjō-in (光浄院) and Kakushō-in (覚勝院) have fine gardens with stones, the former with pond garden requires reservation to visit and the latter with dry landscape garden is closed to public.
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