Ryoan-ji, Daitokuji & the Zen Garden Philosophy of Kyoto

Ryoan-ji (龍安寺 — UNESCO World Heritage since 1994 — the Rinzai Zen temple famous for its kare-sansui (dry landscape) stone garden, created in the late 15th century): the Ryoan-ji stone garden (15 carefully placed rocks arranged in five groups on a rectangular bed of white raked gravel (approximately 25 metres × 10 metres)) is the most celebrated and most discussed karesansui garden in the world — its arrangement (from the viewing veranda, only 14 of the 15 stones are visible from any single viewpoint, with the 15th stone always hidden behind another) is the subject of extensive philosophical and aesthetic interpretation.