- 27 Dec 2003
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"In 816 AD, a monk named Kukai wandered into the thickly forested slopes of Mount Koya (Koya-san) in Japan's Wakayama Prefecture in hope of finding a suitable site to build a base for his newly founded Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism. He chose an 800m-deep valley surrounded by eight peaks, whose ridges resemble the petals of an eight-petaled lotus blossom. Twelve centuries and 117 temples later, Kukai's spiritual wooded wonderland is a Unesco World Heritage site and one of Japan's most sacred destinations – a place where the wafting aroma of incense, the chanting of shaved-head monks and the primeval air of forested cemeteries creates a spiritual experience like none other."
(cont., with plenty of photos)
(cont., with plenty of photos)
Japan's hidden world of temples
Surrounded by eight peaks and suspended high in the mountains, Koya-san’s 117 temples evoke a spiritual experience like none other.
www.bbc.com