Sanjūsangen-dō

A single long hall, 120 meters end to end, holds 1,001 gilded statues of Kannon: one large seated figure at the center and a thousand standing Kannon ranked in rows that run the length of the room. Twenty-eight guardian deities line the front, with the wind god Fūjin and thunder god Raijin at the ends. The temple, formally Rengeō-in, dates to 1164, when Taira no Kiyomori built it for the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa; the present hall was completed in 1266 after a fire. Photography is not allowed inside, so it rewards slow looking over quick shots. Arrive at opening to walk the rows before tour groups arrive; on the second Sunday of January the west veranda hosts the Tōshiya archery.