Incense Sticks

The fragrance of the incense sticks filled the air and my mind. I was in my childhood again. Most mornings I used to wake up with the soft aroma of incense. My mother after taking her early morning bath and draped in a cotton sari would sit for her “puja” in front of her small temple. By small temple, I mean the small cabinet in the wardrobe of my bedroom. In that cabinet sat her miniature idols of gods and goddesses, in front of whom she placed small bronze plates containing the tiny sugar cubes, “mishri”, as we know it. Then with the pious look of a devout on her face, she used to move the incense sticks in circles in front of the idols and end the session with the blowing of the conch shell. Often after her prayers, I used to smell her sari for the sweet smell she carried throughout the house. Today while walking on the streets of the historical city, Asakusa, my nose was tickled by the same smell. The city dwelled on the west bank of Sumida river and had many old houses and hand-pulled rickshaw, relics of the past. Some of the iron shutters of the shops had colourful paintings of popular folklore on them, which was queer to me.

Hand-pulled rickshaw

Painted iron shutter

I reached the main gate of Sensoji temple, which is the oldest buddhist shrine of Tokyo dating back to the year 645. According to the legend, two brothers while fishing in the sumida river, found a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy and even though they put the statue back into the river, it kept returning to them time and again. Consequently, Sensoji was built nearby for the goddess of Kannon by the chieftain of the village. It is said that the statue was so radiant that it was buried deep inside the temple afterwards and no one has seen it since then.

After entering through the Kaminarimon or the thunder gate (big main gate), I reached a shopping street, Nakamise, which led me to the second gate of the temple, the Hozomon. Some of the shops are hundreds of years old and had been constructed during the Edo period. Here you can find typical Japanese souvenirs like the folding fans. The temple walls had beautiful paintings depicting the ancient folktales with pictures of ascetics and kimono clad women. After walking a little more I found the great burner where hundreds of inflamed incense sticks were planted. 

 Kaminarimon (Main gate)

Nakamise (shopping street)

Beside the main temple was a five-storied pagoda, a structure very similar to the buddhist stupa, which is supposed to be a ‘reliquary’ or the store house of actual physical remains of saints, objects associated with them like pieces of clothing etc. Entrance to the pagoda is prohibited, so I could only take pictures from outside. One thing that catches the eye is the bright colours used for the decoration of the temples and the huge red lantern with inscriptions of the deities in front of the temple.

Pagoda

The red lantern and the incense burner

Inside the temple there was a priest wearing a blue loose fitting gown. He was chanting prayers to the ‘swastika symbol’ on a golden throne. As you may know already, this symbol was derived from Sanskrit and has spread over several religions and continents. The worship is that of “goodness in all beings”, one of the central ideologies of buddhism. The ceiling of the temple was covered with the greatest artworks of Sensoji. There were intermittent bell ringing and drum beats. A huge crowd of worshippers with folded hands and solemn faces and tourists with wonderstruck eyes and ever clicking cameras filled the high-ceilinged hall. In my opinion, the aforementioned picture is a constant factor for any historical religious place. And I am no different. I kept clicking on and on. Outside the temple was a place where you can tie a wooden wishing plaque called ‘Ema’ in Japanese. This is an ancient shinto custom, but in Japan buddhism and shinto have mixed a lot, so you can find them in most of the temples and shrines. They are cards to ask for your wishes to come true but as everything else in the world, has a price tag, though a nominal one.

Sensoji temple

Golden throne and Swastika

Ceiling paintings

Just beside the Sensoji temple is the ‘Asakusa shrine’ which is a shinto worship temple where the founders of the Sensoji temple, the two fishermen and the chieftain, are venerated. The crest of the temple symbolises the net with which the statue of the goddess was fished.

Asakusa shrine

While I was engrossed in observing the huge bell installed in the Edo period i.e in the 1600s, an old japanese man approached and asked my name and the country I belonged to. He said that the six-hourly bell was a common thing in the Edo period and can be seen near every shrine. Though now it is struck only at 6 am. He offered to click photographs for me and my husband and told me that in the month of May, ‘Sanja Matsuri' festival is held when the three founders of the shrine are carried on a palanquin to every street and corner of Asakusa to bring prosperity and good luck. I told him that it was very similar to ‘Rath yatra' in India, where three deities, Jaganath, Balram and Subhadra are carried in a similar way in chariots on giant wooden wheels pulled by devotees through the streets. 

During Sanja Masturi festival

After the man left, we went for a walk along the Sumida river. The glittering sunlight and the slow breeze was quite refreshing after the crowded premises of the temple. On the other side of the river was the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower of the world. 

Tokyo skytree

There were a variety of cruise boats leaving for various destinations on the Sumida river. Since it was equally crowded we did not opt for a tour. Instead we sat there on the bank and enjoyed the splendid sunset. On my way back home I felt tired and yet fulfilled to have gathered so many magnificent memories.