I Stopped At...

2008/03/08 I visited this place in my first long trip in Japan. It was a memorial trip with all the Japanese learnign students of our university took part in. This temple below is called Kinkakuji with the meaning golden pagoda. The origin of the name is, as you can see, the golden plated temples. This is a very famous tourist spot in Kyoto. This site is photographed for its beauty and a famous landscape picture in calendars and so on. We, the students, were sitting for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 2 in the end of the year. So our Japnese teacher wanted us to write  a pledge for the God of academy. Below are the wooden plates with our names written on it . Well, as a result of this and good hard work of ours, as far as I remember we all passed the level 2 in the year 2008!!! All Rights Reserved.

2014/05/01 Tanah Lot is a Balinese temple built on a rock in the middle of the sea. the rock island can be accessed by tourists itself but the temple on it can be accessed only by Balinese people. Hence, It is  crowded around the rock and less crowded in the temple at the top of the rock. It is beautiful piece of rock very serene except for the very rough waves breaking on the rocks. It is looking  towards the Indian ocean making it one of the most famous sunset watching spots around Bali. The rock island can be reached by walk only when the tide is low. The rock it self and the path is paved, caved and shaped by the sea, creating beautiful patterns on the rocks. The path can be very slippery and the wind is salty. You can find little sea creatures like crabs crossing your path when you are walking towards the temple when the tide is low.  Below is another temple situated just next to Tanah Lot named Pura Batu Balong, in the walking distance. ...

2014/05/02 Uluwatu Temple is one of the most famous tourist spots in Bali. Located by the sea, at the top of a beautiful cliff, Uluwatu makes a famous sun set watching place. This temple is dedicated to the goddess Rudra. The actual year, the temple was founded is yet to know. Below is the main point of the temple where normal people cannot enter. It is standing at the top of a rocky part protruding to the Indian Ocean. The temple is standing above 70 meters above a roaring sea. Amazingly it seems the cliff had stood tall against the crashing wave without eroding. It makes a beautiful sight when the sun sets shading everything ain yellowish red. Below are some magnificent scenes around the Uluwatu temple. The cyan colored sea and white of the breaking waves add to the beauty. The waves rise nearly 2 meters well above the sea level. It is said that only very professional surfers would challenge the waves crashing below. Special thanks t...

2014/05/01 Around Prambanan Temple site, there are several other temple sites. A trolly train runs between the sites so you can just hop in and out at the sites you prefer.  Sewu temple is also a very old Buddhist temple which used to have over 200 little temples within its premises, which were later destroyed by the same reasons as Prambanan. This existence is living proof that Buddhist and Hindu cultures existed in harmony in the early eras.  At the time we visited Sewu. visitors were not allowed to go in to the temple site as it was under construction.  You may notice the `Dwarapala (Javanese)` or the  `Doratupala` in Sinhalese , the guard at the lower right corner who guards the entrance to the temple. Same architectural concepts, no wonder! The rocks yet to be constructed in to the prior state are piled up in front of the temple blocking the view. I really hope that they have all the strength and courage to finish the reconstructing soon. ...

2014/05/01 We made it to the famous tourist spot of the Holy Spring Temple in Bali. it is called Pura Titra Empul (Pura  = Temple, Titra = Water, Empul = Pure) in Balinese. According to the guide, this temple was built in year  962 AD. This temple had been dedicated for God Vishnu, with a statue of God Indra at the entrance. Balinese people believe that the water from the temple pond purifies their souls and wash away their all sins. The following were captured in the inner temple. Only the "clean" people can enter the inner temple, especially in women s case. They should neither be on their period nor should be breast feeding. Even the Sri Lankan culture considers menstruation as unclean but it was the first time I heard about breast feeders being considered unclean. It is obviously because the blood becomes milk and women with milk are naturally "leaking blood". Well,　this had been a custom for centuries and what puzzled me is that had Indonesia...

2014/05/06  Candi Prambanan prononunced as (cha-n-di  Pra-m-ba-na-n) is a Hindu temple coumpound dedicated for the Gods Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Even though Indonesia is a Muslim country today Candi Prambanan itself is a huge proof of its proud history related to Indian influence of Hinduism and Buddhism. This site boasts of over 200 Hindu temples which now most of them are flattened due to a huge earthquake awakened by the volcano eruption of Mount Merapi. Hence it is a UNESCO world Heritage Site as one of the largest existing Hindu temple Sites in Southeast Asia . Below is one of the small temples at the lower ground surrounding the main temple yard It is said to have 200 such little temples yet to be reconstructed after the earthquake. We enterd from the Brahma Temple side gate and walked across to the Vishnu Temple visiting all the temples in between at the main temple site. This is Apit. Just at the entrance of the Main Temple Site where the three biggest Te...

2014/05/06 Borobudur is the worlds largest Buddhist temple, hence UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had plans to watch the sunrise at Borbudur over Mount Merapi. So it was an early trip to the temple around 4.30 in the dark by torch light, wait for the sunrise enjoy the view from the top of the temple, have breakfast at Manohara hotel and leave. It was pitch dark in the night, not much moon. The torchlight showed us the way and a silhouette of a temple came in to view when our eyes gradually got used to the dark. With the first rays of sunlight, we saw Mount Merapi. The beautiful but vicious volcano fuming. Loved it! All around the place is covered in mist, so the actual surroundigs are yet to be confirmed. By now the temple, which we  have already climbed and waiting at the  top, is coming in to view. The stupas, carvings and statues gradually emerge. The temple is a symmetrical stupa, consisting of nine stacked platforms: six squar...

Yasukuni Shrine is a famous Shinto shrine. I visited the place in the peak of the spring. It is celebrating 150th Anniversary this year. This shrine has become controversial over the years as it has become a symbol of war criminals.  Whenever a political leader visits the shrine, an uproar goes across Korea and China, over the grudges about World WarII. There are famous Sakura spots around Yasukuni Shrine such as Kitano Maru Park, Budokan(Sumo Arena) and Chidorigaoka just across the street. It makes this place a very famous Sakura spot in the heart of Tokyo. Yasukuni shrine is located around 3-5 minutes walk from Kudanshita station. Entrance is free. Main Entrance The Shrine with Sakura in full bloom. Sakura trees in the shrine premises. It is a pink ceiling everywhere. This Sakura tree is the symbolic tree which symbolizes the wake of Sakura blossoms in Tokyo. The meteorological department of Tokyo monitors this very ...

2009/08/09 The Ryouanji premises This temple is an old Buddhist temple in Kyoto. This was famous as a meditating center and still is.  This temple is situated a little away from the normal temple city area. But this has not been a reason in the least  to stop visitors coming. This is situated in the middle of a large green woods with a beautiful pond in the middle. What we visit as the Ryouanji is only one portion of what it really was. A trail lined with beautiful maple trees and sakura led us to the main hall of Rouanji. As it is seen in the picture below the steps leading to the hall is roofed with green maple leaves. It was so serene and calm just reminding me of the serenity and the calmness of the Buddhist temples back home(Sri Lanka). The entrance Once you have entered the premises, you see an enlarged photo of the famous rock garden on the inner entrance. Then a model of the rock garden is kept for exhibition....