Kiyomizu-dera Japan

Legendary

Located in Kyoto, this Buddist temple was built over 1200 years ago during the Heian period.

Photo by Domenico Convertini

During the Edo period, people used to jump off this temple's wooden stage on purpose. The drop is 13 meters, and the belief was that if you survived, your wish would come true.

Records show 234 people tried it. About 85 percent lived, and the practice is now firmly banned.

That famous stage juts straight out from the main hall over a forested hillside. It rests on 139 tall wooden pillars, and the whole structure was built without a single nail.

The pillars are slotted and locked together instead. The stage has held for centuries through earthquakes and storms.

The temple's story starts in 778 with a monk named Enchin Shonin. He had a vision telling him to travel north and find a stream of pure water.

He followed it to Mount Otowa, east of what is now Kyoto, and found a waterfall falling in three streams. Beside it lived an old hermit, who gave Enchin a piece of sacred wood before leaving.

Enchin carved a statue of Kannon, the Buddhist figure of compassion, from that wood. He built a small hut for it beside the falls.

Two years later a warrior named Sakanoue no Tamuramaro came hunting on the mountain. He met Enchin instead, was persuaded to give up the hunt, and later became the temple's patron.

The name comes straight from that waterfall. Kiyomizu means "pure water."

The Otowa Waterfall still runs below the main hall, splitting into three streams. Visitors drink from one using a long-handled ladle, and each stream is said to grant a different blessing.

You're meant to choose only one. Drinking from all three is considered greedy.

The buildings you see today were rebuilt in 1633 after a fire, ordered by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. The temple joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1994.

Walk out onto the wooden stage for a view over Kyoto, best in April for cherry blossoms or November for red maples. Line up at the Otowa Waterfall and pick your stream carefully. Climb the historic Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka streets on the way up, lined with old wooden shops selling sweets and pottery.