Valley of the Temples ⛩ - Hawaii 🌺

in #photography7 years ago (edited)

Yesterday Michael & I went on an adventure to Ahuimanu Hawaii, just up Northeast from Honolulu. I absolutely fell in love with this Japenese Buddhist Temple, I felt at peace along with happiness. Such great vibes and energy from the Temple. 😇 Because there was so much to see we happened to get a lot of photos, so I am going to break this post down. I hope you guys enjoy part 1 of the Valley of the Temples! 🤗

image

When you arrive to the Temples, there is a fee. We paid $6 for the both of us. Unfortunately, no Kama'aina guys (for people who live in Hawaii) but it's still pretty cheap for all the amazing things you're about to see! 🤙🏽😏

image

When we arrived there were a lot of people, so if you're trying to avoid the crowd, I think it's better to go in the morning when people are asleep. 😜

image

Front view from the Temple, such an amazing design & location! You will hear many things, from wild animals there (not any dangerous animals, unless you bother them of course) & a bell! 😮
image

More of what you will see in the water In front of the temple. Yes, those are black swans, & yes you will see them there, doing swan-like activities. Lol they really make the place seem more mystical. You can feed them, but not your food. They offer food you can buy to feed these webbed feet birds. ☺️

image

This is the Bell!
Before you enter the Temple you must ring this bell. It is not a bell for fun nor to just make noise just because. This is a practice Japanese Buddhists do for blessings. There was a small sign on the corner of the bell house that read;
"An offering & ringing off the sacred bell brings happiness. The blessings of the Buddha and a long life to the ringer of the bell it is customarily rung before one enters the temple to spread the eternal teachings of Buddha."

image

Closer look at the Bon-Sho (sacred bell). The Bon-Sho was cast in Osaka, Japan with the assistance of the Japenese Government. It is over 6ft high, the bottom of the bell has a diameter of 57in & weighs over 7 tons! It is housed in a kanetru-ki-do (bell house) & resembles the bell that hangs at the Byodo-In Temple in Japan. Visitors are requested to ring the bell by using a soft wooden log, called Shumoku before entering the temple. It is believed that the unique tones of the bon-sho clears the mind of negativity, imparts deep peace, brings happiness, blessings, & a long life. Through its resonating sound, the bell reminds us that everything is transitory.

image

The Kanetru-Ki-Do AKA the Bell house. Looks small in pictures, but in person it's definitely a lot bigger!

image

After ringing the Bon-Sho, you walk towards the temple. However, if you make a quick left there is Meditation Pavilion. It is a structure that is known as Tusri-Dono, which means the Emperor's fishing Pavilion. When you walk up the steps you will see this object, if you see it, you're at the right place. ⛩

image

This structure is surrounded by nature, even if you don't meditate, it's still lovely to listen to the surroundings around you. You can hear and see nature all around you. I meditated for about 2 min (when I was trying to meditate there was a lot of noise from people around me) and in those 2 minutes I felt the frequencies from the bell. It was so awesome because when I rung the bell, I didn't feel it as much as I did when I was meditating. You will hear it a lot if there is a lot of people there lol.

image

The walk towards the temple is lovely. Did I mention there were lots of koi fish? I have never seen so many koi fish in my 25 years of living! 😳😮😧

image

Koi Fish!!
You will see lots of these beautiful fish everywhere in the temple.

image

Koi fish has a powerful and energetic life force. Koi fish are known to swim against currents and even travel upstream. It is bad luck to eat Koi fish, so don't even think about it to all my fish eaters out there! ☺️

image

When I was taking pictures of the koi fish, they all came to me! I don't know if they thought I had food of I just have good juju with animals. lol seriously though they were all coming towards me. It was sooo awesome!! 🤗🤗

image

Front side of the Temple

image

The entrance towards the temple. I will have images from the inside of the temple on my next post! You will not be disappointed!

image

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Until next time!

image

DSLR Camera: http://amzn.to/2s96d2O
Lens: http://amzn.to/2rLaE38
Genesis Mining code : JgOA5k

Sort:  

Wow... Your tript to Ahuimanu at the Buddhist Temple in Hawaii is breathtaking , I think the Koi Fish looks so pretty and would taste better than most fish i tried. maybe in will try just one and later ask the Budha for atonement of sins...!!Bon-Sho (sacred bell) looks very huge. Your trip, photo and narratives is excellent as such you got my upvote. Keep steeming

Awh, koi a are such beautiful fish 😂 Idk if I could eat one. Thank you for your kind words @kenhudoy

always welcome and always have my support. i do also await your comment on my posts
thanks

Great photography!

Thank you! 😊😊

Thank you for the tour. This place goes on my list! Very nice.

No problem:) Thank you for commenting ^_^!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.23
TRX 0.22
JST 0.036
BTC 98604.28
ETH 3469.99
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.20