I am cheating a little bit because while Uji city is in Kyoto prefecture, it is not in Kyoto city where most of the other charms in my Kyoto collection are from. This charm also cheats a little bit because it is more tourist site than temple in my opinion. And I bought this at the museum, not from a temple shop. Either way, Byodoin is an important site, and it IS a religious one, so of course omamori will be sold there.
Byodoin was a detached palace of the wealthy and powerful Fujiwara no Michinaga until 1052 when it was converted into a Buddhist temple. Byodoin is the best and oldest example of an original detached palace of the Heian period.
After climbing the mountains of Fushimi Inari, I jumped on a train to go south to Uji in order to see Byodoin. When I got to the train station there, I waved down a cab and got to Byodoin ten minutes before closing and the woman at the gate was nice enough to let me in. That had been my last day in Kyoto, and I wanted to see it. Byodoin is on the back of the ten yen coin, and we talked about the site in my history course. It was beautiful. The palace is called the Phoenix Pavilion because the roofs are so large and heavy, but are supported by relatively slender beams. When the palace is viewed from the front, looking out over the pond, it looks like a bird with its wings spread.
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