Kiyomizudera Temple 28 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

There are many Kiyomizudera temples scattered across Japan. This one is in Yasugi, Shimane, and may very well be the oldest.

Kiyomizudera literally means "Pure Water Temple", and the most famous is the one in Kyoto.

The temple is very old with the date of 587 generally given for its founding.

According to the legend, an itinerant monk named Sonryu investigated the mountain where locals claimed an eerie light could be seen. He found an old man who gave him a statue of Kannon, and so the first, crude structure housing the statue was erected. Not long afterwards a spring of clear water appeared.

The temple had imperial support as well as from local powers and grew in stature.

At its peak it had 48 buildings, though now only 10 are left. It was the premier temple in the whole San-in region.

The main hall is dated to 1393, and is an Important Cultural Property along with several statues dating back to the Heian Period.

One of the huge trees lining the final set of stairs is said to be 1,000 years old.

In the Gomado next to the main hall are several Fudo statues and a Zao Gongen statue.

The stone statue of Fudo at the start of the climb up to the temple is particularly fine. Top photo.

In 847, a disciple of Saicho stopped here on his way back from China, and since then it has been a Tendai temple.

In the battles between the Amago and the Mori in the late 16th century, everything except the main hall was destroyed by fire.

The pagoda, the last remaining 3-storey wooden pagoda in San-in, was built in 1859.

Unusually, visitors are allowed inside to climb to the upper level.

There is quite a large Inari shrine in the temple.

I left via the Niomon and took a trail down the mountain. This suggests that in earlier times the temple was primarily approached from the East.

On the current approach to the temple there are two eateries offering traditional temple cuisine, Shojin Ryori.

The previous post was on the walk here from Unjuji Temple.

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Ichibata Yakushi Temple 26 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

Gakuen-ji Temple 25 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Gakuenji has always been one of my favourite temples. Located in fairly remote mountains, it takes some effort to visit.

Unfortunately, even in the twenty or so years I have known it the temple has lost several large structures. As well as being number 25 on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, it is also number 3 on the Izumo Kannon Pilgrimage. Some shots from that visit can be seen here.

The temple is very, very old, being founded in the last decade of the 6th century. A monk prayed at the waterfall here and Empress Suiko's eye problem was healed and so she ordered a temple built.

It was a major shugendo centre and later became a Tendai sect temple.

Legend has it that Benkei trained here and carried a bell here from Mount Daisen, an obvious mirror of the famous story of him taking a bell up to Mount Hiei.

The current main hall was built while the Mori controlled much of Chugoku in the late 16th century.

Between its original founding and the current site, the temple was destroyed and moved several times, including having two separate precincts.

Because of this is has two honzons, a Kannon and a Yakushi, both secret.

These are just about the only statues you can see inside the very dark interior...

About twenty years ago the treasure hall was broken into and thieves made off with numerous treasures... an indication of how remote it is.

The grounds become packed with visitors during the autumn colours season.....

Next to the main hall is the Matarajin Shrine. This used to be located at Izumo Taisha and was disassembled and carried up the mountain when Izumo Taisha removed all Buddhist elements in the 16th century. Matarajin is a fairly obscure deity, mostly seen at Tendai temples. Curiously, Matarajin is equated with Susano, and it was Gakuenji that stated that Susano was the primary deity of Izumo Taisha until the 16th century, a fact that is now recognized by historians but ignored by everyone else.

One of the few structures still left at Gakuenji is the magnificent priests quarters and library.

It has an Imperial Gate only used by imperial messengers, and in fact the current Emperor visited here when he was Crown Prince.

The previous post was on the walk over the mountain to get here.

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Zenjoji Temple 24 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Zenjoji, the 24th temple on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, is an ancient mountaintop temple belonging to the Tendai sect.

It is also the 10th temple of the Izumo Kannon Pilgrimage, and the post I did on that visit is worth a look as it was a different time of year, a different time of day, a different camera, and I was in a different mood.

On both my visits, there was still a priest in residence, but I believe that is no longer the case.

According to the temple history it was founded by Gyoki. I swear that guy got around even more than Kobo Daishi.

The honzon is a Sho Kannon, an Important Cultural Property.

It is a secret Buddha, but to the right of the altar is a lovely, small thousand-armed Kannon.

 In earlier times, it was a powerful temple with many landholdings...

There is quite a large Inari Shrine, and a small Benten shrine (last photo)

The views over Okuizumo are expansive...

Not sure why, but I get much nicer vibes from a Tendai temple than a Shingon, even though they are similar sects.

The obsession with Kobo Daishi in Shingon is a bit of a turn-off for me...

The current main hall was constructed in 1758.

The previous post was on the walk over the mountains from Susa Shrine...

f you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.