The Ancient Cistern was a temple located beneath Lake Floria. In spite of its appearance which coincide with the name, the Japanese name for the temple is 古の大石窟 (Ancient Cavern). The upper levels of the cistern are adorned with statues and lotus motifs, reflecting tranquility and enlightenment. However, the deeper sections reveal a stark contrast, featuring symbolism focusing on death. The temple was designed as a physical abstraction of the story The Spider's Thread in which the ascent from the lower part of the temple to the top is representative of the story of Kandata, who attempts to escape hell via the usage of a spider's thread, which was lowered into hell by Buddha[1]
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Ancient Cistern Map
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Upper Levels
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Lower Levels
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Exterior
- ↑ Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, The Spider's Thread (蜘蛛の糸, Kumo no Ito) (1918), Akai Tori