Hannya-ji Special Temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

With a beautifully restored thatched Nio gate, Hannya-ji Temple is located on a mountaintop between Yanai and Hirao in Yamaguchi.

When I arrived on the afternoon of the 21st November, the 19th day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage,  the autumn colours were full on.

The Niomon has a pair of fine Nio said to date to the Kamakura Period, though they have been renovayed multiple times since then. The gate itself dates to 1813.

Hannyaji is one of the extra temples added on to the 33 numbered temples.

It claims to have been founded in 567 and the temple is mentioned in documents from the late 6th century so there seems to be some basis for the date.

The temple is named after a beautiful princess, Hannyahime, and the story has several versions which I will pick and choose from for my version....

A wealthy man in what is now Oita, Manano Choja, had a beautiful daughter whose beauty was known of even in the capital. The prince who would become Emperor Yomei secretly visited the area and the couple fell in love and she became pregnant. The prince had to return to the capital and the princess said that if the child was a boy she would bring him up to the capital as an heir for the prince, but if it was a girl then she would leave her with her parents as an heir.

She gave birth to a daughter, so she left on the journey up to the capital. In the area near where Hannyaji now stands the boat encountered a storm. Some say she was washed up on shore and died shortly after, others that she sacrificed herself to the underwater Dragon King to save the lives of others. Her grave is said to be where the Kannon-do now stands.

Emperor Yomei himself ordered the construction of the temple. It is said that the statue of Kannon resembles the princess.

The view from the temple. Down below is where Princess Hannya is said to have died.

I had come across the story of Princess Hannya and her father before at several sites in Kyushu. 

Manano Choja is said to have been responsible for the founding of Renjoji Temple in Bungo Ono. His grave is said to be there. He is also said to have donated the 1,000 Medicine Buddhas there when his daughter was sick. Near to the temple is a twenty metre tall statue of the princess. I didnt photograph it at that time but have since been back and photographed it. At some point down the line I will post it.

The other site connected to Manano is further south in Usuki. It is said he paid to have the first cliff-carvings done here. Nearby Mangetsji Temple also claims to be his gravesite.

The above structure is the Myoken-do which has since been demolished. In its place a new hexagonal building, the Juo-do, has been built.

The temple was given extensive lands, but by the 14th century it had fallen into disuse and was uninhabited. Above is the Kannon Hall.

It was rebuilt and by the 15th century had grown powerful again with 120 branch temples.

It was supported by the Ouchi and then the Mori clans.

Above is the main hall enshring Dainichi Nyorai.

The bell in the bell tower, which I didnt photograph, is dated to 1255

The statue of Enma is now housed in the new Juo Hall.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Daisho-in on Miyajima.

The previous post in the series was on Yanai, the historical town at the base of the mountain.

If you would like to subscribe by email just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.

Yokomineji Temple 60 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

At 745 meters above sea level, Yokomineji, temple 60, is the highest of the pilgrimage temples in Ehime, and the second highest of all the 88 pilgrimage temples.

I visited in February about 11 years ago and in the autumn there had been a major storm that severely damaged the trail up the mountain.

On the lowest slopes of Mount Ishizuchi, Yokomineji is one of the Henro Korogashi.... hard to reach temples, and with the path blocked by storm debris it was even more so ......

Said to have been founded by famed and legendary founder of Shugendo, En no Gyoja, in 651.

Gyoki, nd then a century later Kobo Daishi, also visited.

Almost to the shrine you pass the Furubo Jizo-do. There used to be a small settlement in the area as during the Edo period this was a well travelled road.

Yokomineji has quite a complex history not made easier by the reconfiguring of the Jaoanese religious landscape in the latter half of the 19th century.

When Enno Gyoja founded it he carved a statue of Zao Gongen, the main deity of what is now Shugendo. Later when Kobo Daishi came he carved a Dainichi statue and made it the "main image".

What seems certain is that it was a syncretic site with both kami and Buddhist elements. A report from the 17th century writes of a Zao Gongen main shrine, and a Kaisan-do dedicated to Sekisen, and a hall dedicated to Dainichi and Kobo Daishi.

In early Meiji all the Buddhist elements were removed and a new temple hall built near the Niomonto house them. This was called Omineji.

What was Yokomineji Temple became a branch shrine of Ishizuchi Shrine and a temple at the base of the mountain became the 60th pilgrimage temple.

By 1909 it was reinstated as Yokomineji Temple, though the observant notice that the architecture remains shrine-style.

The statue a few photos above is a Hoshiku Daishi. Holding a sword, I believe this represents Kobo Daishi performing a star ritual when he visited here. It stands on the site of the former Kaisan-do.

I did not spend much time exploring as it was very cold and there didn't seem to be anyone around. I certainly saw no other pilgrimas.

As I was about to leave it started snowing. 

On the way down I stopped in at Tsumashiro Daimyojin Shrine.

The guardian deity of the temple, many of the crude torii had rotted and collapsed.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Koryuji, the 10th bangai temple.

Choshoji Temple 33 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

Choshoji, temple number 33 of the 88 temple pilgrimage on Shodoshima is located on a hillside at the southern edge of Ikeda Town.

Built on several terraces with great, stone, retaining walls it is quite impressive and seems to not be suffering financially.

It is a Shingon temple of the Omuro School.

It was founded in 1676, although some sources say it was relocated to this spot at that time.

The honzon is a Dainichi Nyorai and is flanked by a Fudo Myoo and an Aizen Myoo.

The main hall, built by temple builders from Kyoto, and the Shoin and Kuri were all built in 1996.

The previous main hall was built in the early 19th century and is now used as the Daishi Hall.

As all the buildings on this upper level were built in 1996 I am guessing that was when the karensansui landscaping was also done.

So far on this pilgrimage I have not noticed much in the way of gardens, so this was very pleasant.

The temple has a set of hachiman statues that are registered as Important Cultural Properties. They were shintai at the neighboring Hachiman Shrine but were removed with the shinbutsu bunri edict of early Meiji

The previous post was on the Ikeda Saijiki which is just below the temple.