Shuzenji Temple 25 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Starting day 2 of our walk along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage and it is already promising to be filled with hundreds of statues of Fudo Myoo, just like the first day yesterday.

Even before reaching Shuzenji, temple 25, there was a strange roadside "chapel" that had a couple of Fudo statues ( photos 2 & 3 )

Shuzenji was a small, unmanned temple up the narrow road leading up the mountain to Ichinotaki Temple.

Shuzenji is a Shingon temple and was relocated to this spot in 1960.

The honzon is a One Vow Jizo that does not grant multiple wishes, rather just your one most important wish. Photo 13.

It is said the statue came from Shinshoji, the 25th temple on Shikoku.

Since I visited the statue, which had become dark from numerous goma fires, has been restored and is now very colourful.

There are numerous smaller, "folk" stone statues of Fudo, as well as a larger tableau with two attendants, shown below.

The temple also has a Toyokawa Inari Shrine.

Just about every single small "temple" on this pilgrimage so far has had dozens of statues on display, an inordinate amount of them being Fudo's....

The previous post was on the first stop of the day, Yamate Kannon-do, temple 52,  just a few hundred meters down the road.

Yamate Kannondo Temple 52 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Day 2 of our walk along the magnificent Sasaguri Pilgrimage began where it had ended the day before, at Chikuzen-Yamate Station.

Temple 52 is easily noticed by the unusual tall structure. Included at the site is the Watatake Inari Daimyojin Shrine.

Next to it is the tall structure with a tall painting.

The painting is of  a fairly young Kobo Daishi and was the result of an old monk named Mori Jundo who sat by the roadside and begged for donations from passers-by around 1949-1952. 

Like all the other little "temples" on the pilgrimage there is a large, eclectic collection of small statuettes of a range of Buddhas and Kami.

The honzon is an Eleven-faced Kannon, although I believe the one now is a newer relacement of the original stone one which is also on display.

There are also quite a few statues of Fudo Myoo, in fact, as I have mentioned before, I have never encoubtered so many Fudo statues as here in Sasaguri...

The previous post was on the last two temples of day one, both very close to ths one.

Torigoe Kannondo & Yamate Yakushido Temples 82 & 11 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

The first 6 photos are from Torigoe Kannon-do, the 82nd temple on the 88 temple Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

The honzon is a Thousand-armed Kannon that was carved by a local priest in 1940. The original honzon is the stone carving to the left of the main image above that possibly came from Negoroji, the 82nd temple on Shikoku.

Like all the other temples on this pilgrimage, there were a huge amount of statues, and it was uninhabited, maintained by local people.

The last 4 photos are of the nearby Yamate Yakushi-do temple, number 11.

It is also unmanned and with a lot of statuary.

Its honzon is, as the name implies, a Yakushi Nyorai. This little temple is connected to the Fuji family who were village headmen of Yamate and were influential in setting up the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

It is located right next to Chikuzen Yamate station and so was a perfect point to end the days pilgrimage and head back into Hakata for the night.

On this first day we had visited a grand total of 22 of the 88 temples as well as several other temples not on the pilgrimage. I have no idea how many statues we had seen, but I would not be surprised if it was more than a thousand.

The previous post was on Temple 43 Akashiji.

Akashiji Temple 43 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

An almost ten metre tall Fudo Myoo statue towers over Akashiji Temple and is clearly visible from a distance as you approach the temple.

It is called a Yakuyoke Namiikiri Fudo, a wawe-cutting Fudo against misfortune.

Yakuyoke is the Chinese system of "bad luck years", for men when they are 25, 42, and 61, and for women, 19, 33, 37, and also 61.

Afet entering through the main gate there are a further two gates to reach the main hall, one for women and one for men, with each having a corresponding number of steps to yakuyoke years.

The honzon is a seated Senju Kannon, only open to the public twice a year during festivals.

There is also a Bokefuji Kannon for protection against senility.

There are numerous other statues throughout the grounds including more Fudo's, the Seven Lucky Gods, and Kobo Daishi.

The temple previously had a shukubo, temple lodgings, though now it has been turned into a public ryokan, though offers many of the facilities of a shukubo for those who wish.

Behind the Main hall a path leading up to the Okunoin is lined with the 33 Kannon statues from the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage. Akashiji is also on the Kyushu Kannon Pilgrimage as well as the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

I visited coming to the end of my first day walking along the Sasaguri Pilgrimage. The previous post was on Daihoji temple 44 nearby.

Daihoji Temple 44 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Daihoji, the 44th temple on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage is a Koyasan Shingon sect temple located just below Narufuchi Dam.

It was previously known as Narufuchi Kannon-do, and was relocated to its current location in 1993 because of the construction of the dam.

The honzon of the temple is an 11-faced Kannon, seen in photo 5.

As with all the temples on this short pilgrimage, the smallish temples still have a lot of statuary on display. Above is a statue of En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of Shugendo.

There were several Fudo Myo's, including this one that looks quite youthful.

The last two photos are of a Bato Kannon, I think, on horseback, and an unusual Bishamonten looking like Santa...

The previous post was on Narufuchi Dam.