Byodo-in exists because of an apocalyptic prophecy. In East Asian Buddhism, the Three Ages of Buddhism divide time after the Buddha's passing into periods of increasing spiritual decline. The third age -- Mappo, the Decline of the Dharma -- was widely believed to begin in 1052. Aristocrats and monks, gripped by the conviction that the world was entering its final degenerate phase, turned to Pure Land Buddhism with desperate fervor, seeking rebirth in Amida Buddha's Western Paradise. It was in this atmosphere of spiritual urgency that Fujiwara no Yorimichi, son of the immensely powerful regent Fujiwara no Michinaga, converted his father's rural villa into a Buddhist temple. The property itself dated to 998, when a high-ranking courtier built it as a country retreat. Michinaga purchased it from the courtier's widow, and Yorimichi completed the transformation in 1052 -- the very first year of Mappo. The following year, the Amida Hall was finished: a physical representation of the Pure Land paradise that believers prayed to reach after death.

The hall's design is extraordinary. A central rectangular structure houses the principal Buddha image, while twin L-shaped wing corridors extend on either side and a tail corridor stretches behind, the whole composition perched at the edge of a reflecting pond. The resemblance to a bird with outstretched wings gave the building its popular name -- Hoo-do, the Phoenix Hall -- though this nickname only caught on during the Edo period. Two bronze phoenixes crown the ridgeline of the roof. The architecture draws on Chinese influences fashionable in the Heian-period capital, but the overall effect is uniquely Japanese: the building appears to float above its own reflection. Visitors approaching from the east must cross the Aji-ike pond, symbolically journeying from the mortal world to the Buddhist Pure Land. The gardens surrounding the hall are protected as both a National Historic Site and a Place of Scenic Beauty.

Inside the Phoenix Hall sits one of the masterworks of Japanese Buddhist sculpture. The Amida Buddha statue, roughly 2.4 meters tall, was carved by Jocho, widely regarded as the greatest Buddhist sculptor of the Heian period. Jocho pioneered the yosegi technique -- carving multiple pieces of Japanese cypress into shell-like forms and joining them from the inside -- which allowed him to create a figure of unprecedented scale and delicacy. The statue, covered in gold leaf, sits in a meditation posture with hands forming the Dhyana Mudra, palms upward, thumbs and forefingers touching in circles that symbolize concentration on the Good Law. The Urna -- a white mark between the eyes representing the Third Eye -- signals awakening and compassion. Surrounding the central image, 52 small relief carvings of celestial beings adorn the walls, depicting the heavenly host believed to escort the souls of the faithful to paradise. The Raigo paintings on the hall's wooden doors, showing Amida's descent from the Western Paradise, are among the earliest examples of Yamato-e, the distinctly Japanese style of painting.

That the Phoenix Hall still stands is remarkable. In 1336, the samurai warrior Kusunoki Masashige, fighting the Ashikaga forces, set fire to the Byodo-in complex. The blaze destroyed most of the temple's buildings -- but the Phoenix Hall survived. It is the only original structure remaining from the 11th century. The temple gradually rebuilt over the following centuries: Jodo-in Temple opened in 1496, Rakan-do Hall in 1640, Saisho-in Temple in 1654. A major renovation of the Phoenix Hall in 1670 replaced the front doors. Then, in 1698, a devastating fire swept through Uji, badly damaging the hall's walls and door paintings. Through the Meiji and Showa periods, successive restorations preserved the structure. The Phoenix Hall and its Amida statue earned National Treasure designation in 1951. In 1994, UNESCO inscribed Byodo-in as part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. The most recent major restoration, completed in March 2014, returned the exterior to something closer to its original vivid appearance.

Byodo-in today occupies a dual identity. It is jointly managed by two Buddhist sects -- Jodo-shu (Pure Land) and Tendai-shu -- a rare arrangement reflecting its complex institutional history. The Hoshokan Museum, opened in 2001, houses national treasures including the original temple bell, 26 statues of Bodhisattvas on Clouds, and a pair of rooftop phoenixes, all displayed in a building largely concealed underground so as not to compete visually with the Phoenix Hall. A half-scale replica of the temple was built in 1968 in the Valley of the Temples on Oahu, Hawaii. But the original remains irreplaceable. The city of Uji has been synonymous with green tea since the Kamakura period, and the temple's own tea salon serves leaves harvested from surrounding fields. Visitors sitting with a bowl of matcha beside the pond can look across at the same hall that Fujiwara no Yorimichi built when he believed the world was ending -- a paradise made of cypress and gold leaf that has outlasted every catastrophe the nearly thousand years since have delivered.