The Ryoanji Temple originally was an aristocrat's villa from sometime between 800-1100 c.e. The villa was converted into a Zen Buddhist temple in 1450 c.e. Below the Temple's main buildings there are lovely traditional gardens and a pond. There is a dispute as to when the traditional gardens in the complex were built – best educated guess is the late 1400’s. The main pond, the Kyoyochi
Pond was built in the 1100's when the Temple was still an aristocrat's villa.
In the Temple complex is Japan's most famous rock garden, the Kare-sansui (dry landscape) Rock Garden or “Zen Garden” as it is sometimes called. The rock garden consists of a rectangular plot of small polished and raked river pebbles surrounded by low earthen walls. Fifteen rocks in small groups and on patches of moss are on the pebbles. Interestingly at least one rock cannot be seen by the viewer regardless of the viewer’s vantage point. A few of the speculations about the meaning of the garden are: 1) the small pebbles represent the universe – we can never see or know all of it know matter how hard we look, 2) rocks as islands in a sea 3) rocks as mountains breaking through clouds and 4) an abstract design not directly related to anything in the natural world. Regardless of the meaning of the garden it facilitates meditation/contemplation when it is observed nearby from the wooden alcove of the head priest's former residence known as the hojo.
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