Ryuzoji Temple 17 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Ryuzoji Temple, the oldest temple in Yamaguchi City, is the 17th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and is a little out of town and not easily accessible by public transport so remains somewhat unkown to visitors.

I was totslly blown away by the phenomenal colours of the maple and gingko together...

At the bottom of the steps leading up is the remains of a small garden attributed to Sesshu. It was in poor condition when I was there but I believe it has been somewhat renovated now.

This is another of the temples where I took so many photos that I will break it down into two posts.

The origins of the temple lie in 698 when En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of shugendo, was returning from Hikosan in north Kyushu and discovered the cave on the mountainside that is now the okunoin.

Later, in 741, Gyoki came here, carved a Thousand-armed Kannon and established 7 halls

During the Edo Period ii seems it was a fairly large temple complex.

However, with the anti-Buddhist movements of early Meiji the temple was partially destroyed and abandoned.

In the last years of the 19th century it was revived as a place of worship.

The temple was packed with things to see,... not least the colours of Autumn, mostly on the ground...

Above is the Basho Jizo. I can find no info on this version of Jizo, so it must be one of the lesser ones...

The giant Gingko tree had shed just about all its leaves. It is about 45 meters tall and with a circumference of 12 meters at its base. Its diameters above the ground is 6 meters.

It is estimated to about  550 years old . Of all the nationally registered gingko tree this one is the second tallest and oldest.

At the top of the stairs, the first building is the Kannon Hall.

The main hall houses the honzon, and Amida. This is a Shingon temple...

The Kannon is a Bato Kannon, a Horsehead Kannon, and I was very surprised because I would have said it was an Aizen Myoo statue...

Just when you think you have gotten a handle on the identities and multiple appearances of the Buddhist deities, you come across something that blows it all up,,,

The Gingko tree at Ryuzoji Temple is a National Natural Monument.

It seems Bato Kannon can be an "angry" manifestation of Kannon, and "he" is included in the Hachidai Myoo grouping.

May be a Ryuzu Kannon, though usually she is depicted on a dragon, not with a dragon on her head...

In the next post I will cover the large Fudo Myoo, the waterfall, and numerous other sights above and behind the main hall.

The previous post in this series on day 23 walking along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, was on Rurikoji Temple and its pagoda,  a few kilometers further north.

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Ko-on-ji Temple 61 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

Ko-onji Temple is quite an enigma. With claims to being one of the oldest temples on the pilgrimage, the architecture is without a doubt the most modern.

Said to have been founded by Shotoku Taishi in the late 6th century, it was later visited by Gyoki, and then later still by Kobo Daishi.

He found a pregnant woman nearby suffering difficult labour and so prayed and lit incense for her. She gave birth to a healthy boy and since then the temple has been known as a place to pray for safe birth and the worship of Koyasu Daishi began.

The temple burned down and was rebuilt multiple times.

In 1976, for reasons I am unable to learn, the main hall was moved to another temple and the current structure was built.

Looking like a museum or auditorium, it is actually not too dissimilar to the latter.

With seating for more than 600, and a kind of raised stage, the huge hall doubles as the main hall and also the Daishi hall.

Numerous sources refer to it as a cathedral.

The previous temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage was number 60, the mountaintop temple of Yokomineji.

Iyo Kokubunji Temple 59 Shikoku Pilgrimage

 

After visiting Senyuji, temple 58 of the pilgrimage, the route comes back down from the mountains towards the sea and temple 59, Kokubunji, among the rice paddies outside Imabari City.

It is one of the "Nation Protecting" temples established in every province in the early 8th century usually adjacent to the government administrative centres established under the new Ritsuryo system.

The other three Kokubunji on Shikoku are also part of the pilgrimage, number 15, Awa Kokubunji, number 29, Tosa Kokubunji, and number 80, Sanuki Kokubunji.

It was officially established in 741, and it was certainly built by 756. Founded by Gyoki, as so many of the pilgrimage temples are, the honzon is a Yakushi, Medicine Buddha, said to have been carved by Gyoki himself.

Worth looking for when visiting is the lovely "topless" Benzaiten statue in the Benten Shrine. Also noticeable is the Hand-Shaking Daishi statue below.

The temple was destroyed by war on numerous occasions, in 939 during a rebellion by Fujiwara Sumitomo, in 1184 during the Genpei War, in 1364 during the Northern Court-Southern Court warfare, and like so many of the pilgrimage temples, by Chosokabe Motochika in the late 16th century. A fire in 1689 once again destroyed most of the temple. It is said the hoinzon and other btresures survived each time.

The current main hall was rebuilt in 1789. Kobo Daishi is said to have spent some time here and donatede paintings pf the Five Wisdom Kings. It is a Shingon temple now.

The current site is believed to have been where the government offices were originally. The original site of the temple was about 150 meters  away. Immediately adjacent to the temple is a Kasuga Shrine which was part of the same complex until the sepeartion of Buddhas and Kami in 1868.

The previous temple was number 58, Senyuji.

Tengawa no Mizu Spring

 

Tengawa no Mizu spring is one of the Top 100 Spring Waters of Japan and is located on Ama, one of the inhabited Oki Islands off the north coast of mainland Shimane.

A more poetic translation would be Top 100 Exquisite and Well Conserved Water of Japan.

The name, said to have been given by the famed monk Gyoki who is said to have visited the spot in the early 8th century, means River of Heaven's Blessing.

He is said to have carved a Kannon statue. A Kannoin statue resides in a small "temple" building above the spring, but around the spring are plenty of other statues. You don't see many temples or Buddhist statues on the Okis as every single temple was destroyed in the anti-Buddhist movement of early Meiji.

It is said that the spring produces the same amount of water, 400 tons a day, as it has always done, even when other nearby islands suffered droughts.

The previous post in this series exploring the Oki Islands was on the undersea world.