Ryoan-ji

Ryoan-ji, officially listed as a historical monument of ancient Kyoto and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the most famous Zen temple in the world.

Founded in the mid-1400s, this iconic temple complex includes the Kuri (main temple building), the Zoroku Tea Room (which is not open to the public), Kyoyochi Pond (which predates the temple and was built in the 1100s), as well as numerous picturesque gardens and monuments.

However, the temple’s most renowned feature is its dry garden or rock garden, which attracts over a million visitors each year. I must say, it truly takes your breath away.

The rock garden, deceptively simple and relatively small, spans just 2,670 square feet and contains 15 rocks arranged in five distinct groups. One group has five rocks, two groups contain three rocks, and the final two groups each hold two rocks, all surrounded by white gravel that the Monks meticulously rake each day.

The placement of the rocks is so purposely precise that no matter where you stand, there is always one rock hidden from view, adding to the garden’s mystique.

There have been countless speculative explanations about the meaning of the rock garden. The interpretation I personally believe to be true is that the garden itself was designed with no specific meaning at all…simply to encourage meditation.