Thursday, January 19, 2012

Hiraizumi - Japan

Another card from Japan and this one was also sent by Kenji. The card shows a lotus flower garden in the Chūson-ji, a Buddhist temple, one of the monuments listed in 2011 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a part of the Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land.


The site features vestiges of government offices dating from the 11th and 12th centuries when Hiraizumi was the administrative centre of the northern realm of Japan and rivalled Kyoto. The realm was based on the cosmology of Pure Land Buddhism, which spread to Japan in the 8th century. It represented the pure land of Buddha that people aspire to after death, as well as peace of mind in this life. In combination with indigenous Japanese nature worship and Shintoism, Pure Land Buddhism developed a concept of planning and garden design that was unique to Japan. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1277

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