Having seen quite a few temples and shrines in my time in Japan, I wasn't expecting Kiyomizu-dera to be particularly thrilling. Temples are often nice to look at but after you've seen a couple some might say you've seen them all, and though people kept talking about this one, they also talked about Ginkaku-ji and Kinkaku-ji, and all of these are the kind of places you would find crawling with tourists. This temple experience though, turned out to be a strangely magical one.
The reason is probably that we ended up going quite late, and were probably the last people let in before the temple area was closed for the night. It being December, it was already very dark, creating a wonderfully mystical atmosphere with the contrast of the illuminated pathways and the blackness of the surrounding hills, where rows of twinkling lights were visible all the way far into the distance.
There are many places from which you can get a beautiful view of either the hills or the actual city below. If you go up to the top at night time, the various buildings of the temple are partially lit, making them stand out of the darkness like magical giants, framed by scrawny leafless trees whose bony fingers reach out in every direction.
The digital camera that I'd bought a few weeks earlier in Tokyo has a night setting that gives everything a glowing, warmer appearance, and I got quite excited snapping away at everything, espcially the lights in the hills and ghoulish winter trees. I don't have them saved here unfortunately, so I can't upload them onto here at the moment, but will attmempt to do so later if I get the chance.
Either way Kiyomizy-dera is something quite spectacular and quite apart from other temples around due to its setting, whether you choose to go during the day or at night. However, if you are interested in something in an even more exotic setting, check out my journal on the Fushimi-Inari Taisha (a short train journey from both Kyoto and Nara, about half-way between the two).
(There is an admission fee of -- I think -- about 600 yen to Kiyomizu-dera.)