Anrakuji Temple Main Hall

A Late Edo Jodo Hall in Shishigatani

The Anrakuji Temple Main Hall (安楽寺本堂) is a Jodo main hall with a skirted front hall and an inner hall behind of the late Edo period in Shishigatani Goshonodancho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 18, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 111 square metres; registration number 26-0146.

A Pyramidal Front Hall and a Gabled Inner Hall

The main hall of Anrakuji in Shishigatani, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto, is a late Edo hall standing toward the north of the precinct and facing south (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Behind a single-storey front hall with a pyramidal tiled roof and a skirt roof, an inner hall with a gabled roof, added later, projects to the rear.

The front hall has a one-bay core with a coffered ceiling, ringed by an aisle with exposed rafters; the inner hall has a flat ceiling and holds the altar platform (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency describes it as a survival that shows how Jodo main halls developed in the late Edo period.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency registered it as a model of design.

What to Look For

Look for the skirted pyramidal front hall and the inner hall projecting behind it (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

It is owned by Anrakuji Temple (Agency for Cultural Affairs). No official information on opening days was found; check with the temple. The main hall, shoin and gate are introduced together on the Anrakuji page.