Officially named Rengeo-in temple, Sanjusangen-do is registered as a National Treasure by the Japanese government.
Established in 1164, the 120-metre long building has thirty-three spaces between the support columns, thus the name Sanjusangen-do, which translates into “a hall with thirty-three spaces”.
The main attraction of Sanjusangen-do is the 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. Carved from Japanese cypress, there are a total of 1000 human-sized standing Kannon statues and 1 gigantic seated statue placed in the middle of the Hall.
Each statue was impressively crafted with 11 heads and 1000 hands, and survived since the 12th century. It is just unfortunate that photography is not allowed inside the Hall!!
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