We decided to walk to one of Koya-san's most popular sites, Okuno-in. This forested area contains over 200, 000 burial stones. This area is flanked with stones, monuments and statues that commemorate Japan's most powerful and illustrious people. Before we entered Okuno-in, there was a tent set up in front of the entrance. These cute little Japanese ladies stop us and gestured for us to sit down. They gave us some green tea and suggested we take a sweet. We weren't too sure what too chose as everything was beautifully packaged. I lucked out and got a tasty wafer, however Jame wasn't so lucky as he got some weird tasting orange jelly thing.
Just as we were finishing our snack a swarm of students led by a few monks walked passed us. I think they enjoyed showing off their English skills as quite a few of them saw us and said "Good morning" or "Hello" followed by a snicker. It was cute. The monk last in line must have been quite important in Koya-san because once all of the elderly ladies saw him they bowed profusely and happily muttered something in Japanese to which the monk responded with his own bows and a large smile. It was very cool see.
Once Jame and I entered Okuno-in, the serenity I felt was instantaneous. At one point Jame asked me a question and I replied in a whisper. He asked me why I was whispering and I really had no idea. The sun was beaming through the trees and all of the statues and burial stones were beautiful (--the mosquitoes were very pesky though). We took several photos and at one point I thought to myself "Is this like someone walking around a cemetery back home and taking pictures?" I thought about it and then thought that this burial site could not be compared to anything I have seen in my life.
As we were strolling down the path, two monks (one was about 75 yrs. old and the other was about 25 yrs. old) walking in the same direction said "hello" to us and asked us where we were from etc. We chatted for a couple of minutes, said good-bye, and from there they stopped in front of a large stone, took out their prayer beads and began to pray.
At the end of the path we saw several different things. On one side we saw people purchasing some planks of wood in which they would write their "one wish". On the other side we saw a row of dark colored Buddha statues sitting in water. People were scooping up the water and splashing the statues. This act is done as a means of showing respect to all of the people buried in the area.
As we were taking in all of the sites we heard some chanting coming from the other side of the bridge.
We followed the sound and came across all of the students we had seen while we were drinking our tea. They were standing before a monk, repeating his chants. I wish I could have taken a picture, but once we crossed the bridge there was a large sign that said "No photography allowed in this area".
The building everyone was standing in front of is called Toro-do (Lantern Hall). Inside this hall are over 11, 000 lanterns that burn day and night. It is said that 2 of them have been constantly burning since the 11th century. The inside of the hall is kind of difficult to explain. The lanterns hang from the ceiling, so the area inside in dimly lit. Some people were standing praying, others would drop a donation into a well and bow, and some were writing on small planks of wood with hopes that the monks would pray for them and their one wish.
At the front of the hall were two monks in an orange cloak kneeling with their backs to us. Candles were lit and they were chanting something we obviously couldn't understand. The chant sounded more like a deep sounding hum. About one dozen people were kneeling on a red carpet in front of the monks listening to their words. It was all so neat to see. Again, we don't have any photos to share and I am sorry that I cannot do a better job of explaining what we saw. The image I have from this experience is magnificent. It was surreal and breath-taking all rolled into one.
After walking around Koya-san for a few hours we decided to leave the mountain. On the ride down we met a couple from Australia and a couple of girls from Germany. It was nice to chat with them and it made the ride go by really fast. It also managed to tune out that annoying squeaky sound!
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