To-ji temple in Kyoto

As I wrote in one of the past articles, so-rin spire is supported by Shin-bashira or Heart Pillar, standing right in the middle of the interior of Japanese wooden pagodas of traditional make. The pillar supports the spire, not the whole pagoda, and stands independently from the rest of the structure. The spire caps the upper end of the pillar.

The five storied pagodas are usually closed and you can only admire their exterior. You are not permitted to go in and climb up like the multi-floored Chinese counterparts.

But don’t despair. The one at To-ji temple is open to the public periodically. If you happen to be in Kyoto now, you are in good luck. It’s open now, up to March 21. It is also open from April 29 to May 25.

The interior space is rather small and limited but seeing the heart pillar and surrounding statues is special. At To-ji, the heart pillar symbolizes the Cosmic Buddha Dainichi, central deity of their sect called Shin-gon.

This pillar had to be shortened near the bottom by about 50 cm in less than 50 years after the pagoda was rebuilt in 1644, the fourth reconstruction after it was originally built at the end of the 9th century.

The pillar stands tall with its tree fibers in verticality, which sustains load better than installed sideways, and does not have to support vast weight, only the spire; hence it hardly shrinks or deforms after its installation. However the rest of the structure does shrink and deform over time. Skilled carpenters always took it into consideration while building the pagodas. It happened at To-ji sooner than expected due to complications, perhaps. The tower became shorter; whereas the heart pillar stood unchanged. See the bottom of the pillar. It is applied with a metal bandage.

There are four ways the heart pillars were erected. At To-ji, the pillar stands on the Shin-so stone laid out on the podium for the pagoda. This is the second oldest way.

The example of the oldest way remains at Horyu-ji temple, though not in the perfectly original state. The article about Horyu-ji and the other two ways of erecting the heart pillar will follow later.

Here's a web page from the official web site of To-ji. Try scrolling down to the end of this page, and you can see the interior image of their five storied pagoda.