Karesansui “Dry Landscape” Garden

Karesansui Gardens are made from gravel, stones, and sands, symbolizing, the ocean, river, sea or lake. In a Karesansui  Garden, there is no water present. The molds and plants symbolize land and mountains.

This style of garden was first seen during the Muromachi period (1392-1568).  Karesansui Gardens are also known as Zen Gardens because  it was greatly influenced by the Zen Buddhism.

Karesansui Gardens change throughout the years, because nature plays a great part in the piece.

When i was about 15, I went to Kyoto, Japan and actually saw a Karesansui Garden with my own eyes, and I remember hearing that someone rakes the garden Everyday so it stays looking nice. The amount of effort put into this piece is impressive. Though the garden has to be raked everyday, whoever that rakes it does a great job at making it look similar everyday. One of the most impressive thing about these gardens is that they don’t leave a foot print. It must take a lot of practice to be able to rake the garden without leaving a single foot print or accidentally missing a section.

sources

• http://www.zdsee.net/bbs/attachment/Mon_0804/62_17_02c8c5056f5457f.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rock_garden
• http://love.ap.teacup.com/datemegane/timg/middle_1202836272.jpg

6 comments December 2, 2009