Nishinotaki Ryusui Temple 42 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

 

I arrived at Nishinotaki Temple via the mountain footpath that ran from temple 41, Bukkokusan, so I didn't see the quite dramatic entry approach until I left.

Nishinotaki epitomizes all that is so great about the Shodoshima Pilgrimage:- a cave, fantastic views, and lots of Fudo Myoo....

The entrance to the small cave is beside main hall.

Inside is a sacred spring, and according to the various legends  it concerns a dragon that attacked a local village and was pacified and confined in the cave resulting in the sacred spring today.

The honzon is an 11-faced Kannon.

A forest fire in 1970 destroyed all the buildings.

The Goma-do is a vermillion, concrete structure with the best views... photo 17 below

A little further up the mountain is a Fudo statues with attendants... photo 14 below.

There are several other Fudo statues including the one on the altar in the goma-do photo 11 below

For those who come by car there is a long staircase lined with lanterns

Nishinotaki is the okunoin of temple 33, Choshoji, which I visited the day before. It had a lovely karensansui grounds.

The previous post was on temple 41 Bukkokusan.

Ryujindo at Anyoji Temple

Anyoji Temple

Anyoji is a large, ancient temple complex in the mountains north of Kurashiki and south of Soja in Okayama.

In front of the temple is a large irrigation pond with a "floating" building that in many other places would be for Benzaiten.

Here it is a Ryujindo, or Dragon Hall enshrining a Ryuzu Kannon.

Ryuzu or Ryuto Kannon is known in English as the Dragon Head Kannon and is one of the traditional 33 forms of kannon in Japan and probably came from China. Ryzuzu Kannon is sometimes depicted riding a dragon, but never depicted with a dragon head, unlike the Horsehead Kannon,Bato Kannon, which is sometimes depicted wearing a horsehead hat,

Anyoji Temple was a big surprise to me and I took a lot of photos so will do several more posts on it ...

The previous post in this series on day 7 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on nearby Karube Shrine, famous for its breast ema.

Goods From Japan

Eifukuji Temple 57 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Temple 56 is quite a small temple with Amida as its honzon. As well as the Daishi-do there is also a Konpira-do and a Yakushi-do.

Eifukuji is the 4th of a cluster of 6 pilgrimage temples in the area of Imabari, Ehime.

It is located at the base of a small mountain to the south of the city, though it used to be located on top of the mountain with views over the city.

The most noticeable thing for me when I visited at the start of my 35th day walking the pilgrimage was the Enbutsu-do, a strikingly modern building that towers over the temple compound.

Designed by architect Zai Shirakawa, it features very thick walls with angled window openings that allow for some privacy but also allow plenty of light to enter.

It is said that Kobo Daishi performed a ritual on the mountaintop in the early 9th century for peace at sea and afterwards Amida appeared and so he built a temple.

In 859 another monk was travelling from Kyushu to Kyoto with the divided spirit of Hachiman to found Iwashimizu Hachimangu. He thought the mountain here looked like the one where Iwashimizu was to be built and so founded a Hachiman Shrine alongside the temple. Both functioned as the same site.

Until 1868, that is,  when the government separated Buddhas and Kami and the temple was relocated to its current location at the foot of the hill. The shrine still stands on top.

There are some fine carvings, and I was surprised to see a Ta no Kami statue (below). The cart in the first photo was left by a 15 year-old crippled pilgrim whose leg was healed at the temple.

The previous temple was temple 56 Taisanji.

Enmeiji Temple 54 Shikoku Ohenro

 

The Mountain Gate into Enmeiji Temple near Imabari in Ehime was relocated here from Imabari Castle when it was dismantled in early Meiji.

The Nio Gate before the mountain gate contains a fine pair of Nio.

The temple used to be located higher up on Mount Chikamiyama and was relocated to its current location in 1727 following the last of many fires that had repeatedly burned down the temple

The honzon of the temple is a Fudo Myo, and it is known as a Fire Fighting Fudo because it survived the many fires unscathed.

The temple was founded by Gyoki in 720 and he carved the Fudo statue.

As was often the case, Kobo Daishi visited a century later and rebuilt and expanded the temple.

In its heyday, it had many buildings and 100 monks.

It was named Fudoin Enmyoji, and this caused many problems because the previous temple, number 53, was also called Enmyoji, so in Meiji it was renamed Enmeiji.

A Mizuko Jizo statue in the grounds is very popular. The temple has no lodgings, but does have a large shop selling pilgrim supplies.

The previous temple is Enmyoji, number 53, 37 kilometers away in Matsuyama.