Sasaguri Temples 53 & 55 Kirinokidani Amida-do & Dainichi-do, and Koyasukannon

 

I catch a glimpse of the huge reclining Buddha on the other side of the valley, about 500 meters away.

The small mountain valley I am entering is called Kirinokidani, so the neighbourhood has that name.

The first stop is number 53 on the pilgrimage, an Amida Hall. Sometimes it goes by the name Enmyoji, the 53rd temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage.

Like many of these small "temples" in Sasaguri, the original small, stone honzon is on the altar with a modern, gilded honzon.

As well as a Daishi-do, there is a 13 Buddhas hall, as well as numerous statues in the grounds.

From the Amida Hall a set of metal stairs heads up to a non-pilgrimage temple, Koyasukannon

A branch of Anjoji Temple in southern Nara, Koyasu Kannon is a deity for safe-childbirth and fertility.

Here, the original feature is the hundreds of dolls on display in the main hall. I am guessing these are from mothers who have experienced safe childbirth.

From here it is a very short walk to the Dainichi-do, temple 55 of the pilgrimage...

The honzon here is a Daitsuchisho Nyorai, the Great Penetrating Wisdom Buddha, who, if I understand correctly, taught the historical Buddha.

It is the only temple on the pilgrimage with this Buddha.

I am running out of things to say about this pilgrimage.... there is just so much to see in a short distance.... approaching the end of the second day I have already visited about 50 temples, including some not part of the pilgrimage, but passed along the route. The number of statues is uncountable... must be in the thousands by now.....

Ther are a few Fudo statues at these two temples, but actually fewer than the other...

The previous post was on the previous two temples in the Tanoura area....

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 It will not be published or made public.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

Nakanokawachi Kokuzodo & Nakanokawachi Butsumokuji Temples 24 & 42 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Day 2 of our walk along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage, and we are continuing up into the mountains on the south side of the river, main road, and railway line that bisects the area and the pilgrimage.

Number 24, Nakanokawachi Kokuzodo has a memorial stone to the birthplace of Fujii Tosuke, a man who was influential in finishing the construction of this 88 temple pilgrimage in the mid 19th century after the death of Jinnin, the nun were started the project

Many of these smaller "temples" still have the original stone statues that were the honzon. They are all quite small, simple reliefs, with donors' names inscribed on them. They have all been replaced with larger, more elaborate statues. Obviously the local people have been supporting this pilgrimage route since the beginnings.

Many of the other statues that have been added are quite simple and made fairly quickly, at the lower end of the proffesional scale, but this adds something, to my mind at least.

The numbering system is quite weird..... there is no chance to walk the route sequentially...

After 24, the next was number 42, Nakanokawachi Butsumokuji.

The honzon here is a Dainichi.

It has adopted attributes of the Dainichi at  Shikoku temple 42, Buttsumokuji, and is known for protecting livestock.

As with most of these 88 temples, numerous, diverse statues of Fudo Myoo abound...

The previous post in this series on day 2 of my walk along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage was on the nearby  Ninotaki Temple with its two waterfalls

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

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.