Chozenji Temple 8 Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

Chozenji Temple is number 8 on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

It is located a few kilometers downstream from temple 7, Fukushoji. Each of the 36 temples on the Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage has one of the 36 doji, child-attendants of Fudo. At the foot of the stairs above is Shitara Doji.

Like Fukushoji, Chozenji seems like a pretty unremarkable rural temple.

However, it claims to have been founded by Kobo Daishi himself and if I am reading the history correctly, was a fairly major temple.

The Fudo enshrined here is said to be a Fudo who shows miraculous powers for warding off swellings and rashes and has become known as a Fudo to ward off cancer.

From the main hall further steps lead further up the mountainside through a "tunnel" of red torii.

This leads to Mogami Inari Shrine, a branch of Saijo Inari, a Buddhist temple in Okayama.

I can find no information on when the shrine was established or anything about it.

The main building seems to be fairly recent and has some nice ceiling paintings.

It has a pair of Tengu masks hanging on tye front of the building and a pair of what looks like Nio masks but could be other characters...

The steps continue on up to the temple Okunoin, a man made cave with a large painting of Fudo and water streaming from a hole in the ceiling.

The stairs leading up are lined with Fudo statues on the right side and another figure on te left. This may be Kukuzo, the honzon of the temple.

The temple burned down in 1586 and was rebuilt in 1588. In 1598 it was name Ekiji.

It is said to have consisted of seven structures, including a pagoda. It burned down again in 1864 and was rebuilt in 1890.

As part of the Spring Fudo Myoo Festival, firewalking by Yamabushi takes place in front of the Okunoin.

A couple of paintings from the temple are National Important Cultural Properties and are held by museums in Kyoto and Nara.

The previous post in the series was on the previous temple, Fukushoji, number 7.

Bukkokusan Temple 41 Shodoshima Pilgrimage

Bukkokusan Temple

Bukkokusan, temple number 41 on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage, is actually the okunoin of temple 40, Hoanji, and if you are walking then a footpath leads up the mountain from there.

The foot path reaches a small mountain road that leads to the entrance to the temple.

A pair of newish stone Nio guardians flank the road, and either side is lined with stone lanterns. Just before reaching the simple gate a bronze statue of Kobo Daishi, the focus of the 88 temple pilgrimage, looks down on approaching pilgrims. The temple itself is quite small, with just a stylized temple entrance facade to the cave front. A few statues are out in front of the temple which has great views to the south and east.  

One statue stands out as it is not any of the usual Buddhas, but rather a pair of Oni, demons or ogres, the male painted red and the female painted blue. There are two stories relating to the origin of the statue.

  

The first is that in ancient times a demon inhabited this mountain and continuously attacked local people who ventured into the mountains. This is a very common story found all over Japan. The demon was eventually pacified and stopped attacking people when he became a disciple of Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha. Buddhism pacifying demons is also a very common story.

The second legend is set much later in the time that intermarriage between classes was forbidden. This is also a very common story all over, and more often than not ends up with a love suicide. In this local story a pair of young lovers from across the class divide chose to run away together and finding themselves at the cave as night was falling chose to spend the night in the cave whereupon they consummated their relationship. Unable to return home the story is vague about what happened to them although the two stories became linked together and the demon became a kind of protective deity of the mountain and the cave became known as a place to pray for a successful marriage, children, and easy birth.

The interior of the cave is quite magical with many candles, some in niches carved in the rock walls, providing the only illumination.

  

There is a very unusual painted statue of the aforementioned Yakushi Nyorai with distinctly female facial features. This is the honzon, the main deity, of the temple.

  

There are another couple of statues and in the deepest recess of the cave a small stone Fudo Myo in front of which Goma fire rituals are held.

  

Numerous bunches of Senbazuru, the folded paper cranes in multicolors, many of which have become blackened by years of soot.

The cave is about 400 meters above sea level.

It is said Kobo Daishi himself performed rituals inside the cave.

The water that seeps out through the cave walls is collected into small plastic bottles and taken away as healing water.

The views from the temple are amazing.

By road it is a couple of kilometers to the next temple,but just 400 meters on the footpath.

The previous post in this series was temple 40, Hoanji.

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Myoo-in Temple 8 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

Myoo-in

Myo-o-in Temple on the bank of the Ashida River in Fukuyama is home to two National Treasures, the pagoda and the main hall.

Though early records don't exist it is said to have been founded by Kobo Daishi in 807.

The honzon, an 11-faced Kannon is dated to the ninth century so it is certainly possible to be that old.

The temple was originally called Saikozan Richi-in Jofukuji.

The temple was supported by the nearby settlement of Kusado Sengen which grew wealthy through trade and became one of the bigger temples of the region.

The current main hall was built in 1321 and the 5 storey pagoda in 1348.

It is the fifth-oldest pagoda in Japan.

Much of the temple was damaged by a landslide in 1620 and rebuilt by Mizuno Katsunari a few years later.

The third Mizuno Daimyo, Katsutada, merged a nearby small temple, Myoo-in, with it and renamed the temple.

A small Good Luck Daikokuten altar and stone carving.

The torii and steps leading up to the Atago Shrine.

I'm not sure what the kokeshi dolls were doing hung up by the 6 Jizo statues.... but they are not there anymore...

As well as the Pagoda and Main Hall National Treasures, plenty of the other buildings are also quite old. The gate is dted to 1614, and the Shoin is dated to 1621, the bell tower to 1647.

The main hall is classed as "eclectic" as it incorporates architectural features from a range of traditions.

There is a Benzaiten pond and statues of the 6 other "Lucky Gods" nearby.

The previous post was on Kusado Inari Shrine next door.....

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