After leaving Renge-ji, temple 44 on the pilgrimage, my way was now pleasantly downhill as the sun got lower in the sky on day 4 of my walk around the island of Shodoshima on its smaller version of the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage connected with Kobo Daishi.
It's a wide path down the mountainside and glimpses of the
Nakayama Rice Terraces can be caught.
After a while the entrance to a small cave comes into view.
This is temple number 47, Togano o san.
It is not a big cave, and at the back is the small structure housing the honzon, and Eleven-faced Kannon.
It is said that Gyoki spent time in the cave. He was the legendary monk that is said to have founded many of the temples on Shikoku a full century before Kobo daishi's time.
Near the cave entrance are several more small "halls" enshrining Amida, Kobo Daishi, and Akiba Daigongen.
A little further down hill and temple 48 comes into view, Bishamon-do.
A benefactor recently paid to have the Bishamoin statue renovated and a new building built.
From here the Giant Kannon can be seen across the valley. I will be visiting it tomorrow.
I didnt notic them myself, but there are wooden statues of the Three Wise Monkeys, evidence that the Koshin cult was strong in the area. Koshin was in essence a Taoist cult but now Koshin sites have been turned into Shinto or Buddhist sites.
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a nice temple, thank you for visiting.
ReplyDeleteGabi
.