I finally reached to the main temple compelx! I didn’t do that much research about Mt. Kurama before I got there, so I did not expect to see so much leading up to the main temple. I was so happy that reached what I thought was my goal, the main Kurama Temple, but little did I know this was just a beginning of the tour. (Yes, this blog is just beginning as well.) I am very thankful for the healing salon “Earth” for guiding this tour and sharing their knowledge with myself and the rest of the group. Most of the people who come to Mt. Kurama pay their respects here at this temple and head down the mountain.
This place has a few buildings including rest areas, the main temple, a couple of side temples, the main office, the flying stone, a mandala, and great view Mt. Kurama and Mt. Hiei.
The first thing you see on your right after climbing up the stairs is the rest area building. (picture above) People are allowed to sit and rest while they eat, drink, or smoke. At this point, we really needed to rest and eat our lunch! We were so exhausted and hungry from climbing up so many stairs. Just as a side note, there is no restaurant or snack store over here. You need to bring your own lunch. Inside and outside of this rest area are the drawings, posters, and information about Kurama mountain and the village. There were some drawings done by elementary school kids from Kurama village that were very cute. The only thing that bothered me was that people were allowed to smoke inside of this little building and I would have to breathe in the smoke. Coming from NY, I got so used to not having people smoke in a public space. If you have a same problem as I do, there is another rest area right across from this one or there are benches outside.