Kongobu-ji

Kongobu-ji is the head temple of the Koyasan Shingon sect and the centre of the mountain monastery founded by Kukai (Kobo Daishi) in 816. The present main buildings date largely from the 19th century and hold rooms decorated with gold-ground screen paintings, including chambers connected to the warlord Toyotomi and the hall where a historic act of ritual suicide took place. Behind the temple lies Banryutei, a large karesansui rock garden whose stones are arranged as a pair of dragons emerging from a sea of raked gravel, often described as the biggest of its kind in Japan. Visitors are served tea in a large hall as part of the admission, and the temple sits within an easy walk of the Danjo Garan complex.