On the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, the route to the next temple passes by a group of the Ohenro Pilgrimage temples, so I stopped in at them.
The first was Dainichiji, temple 13 on the Ohenro Pilgrimage. The previous temple I visited on the Fudo Myoo pilgrimage,
Konjiji, is actually the okunoin of Dainichiji.
Coming in through the main gate, a statue draws your attention.
It is a Shiawase (happiness) Kannon inside a pair of hands, though the tips of the thumbs appear to have been cut off....
If you look at the 4th photo from the bottom, it is clearer to see....
The temple was founded in 815 by Kobo Daishi who also carved the honzon, a Dainichi statue.
Directly across the road from the temple is Ichinomiya Shrine. It was moved to this location about 1,000 years ago. Dainichi Temple was then moved here, within the grounds of the shrine, to be its main temple.
The shrine was the site that was visited on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, not the temple. All that changed in Meiji when the shrines and temples were forcibly seperated. The 11-face Kannon that was in the shrine was moved to Dainichi Temple and became the honzon.
Like so many temple in Shikoku, Dainichiji was destroyed by the army of Chosokabe in the late 16th century.
The current main hall dates to the early 17th century.
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