Konjiji Temple 12 Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage

 

Konjiji, temple number 12 on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, is a mountaintop temple with a strong Shugendo past.

It is also the okunoin of Dainichiji, the 13th temple on the famous Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage.

Like so many mountain temples associated with Shugendo, Konjiji is said to have been founded by the legendary En no Gyoja in the 7th Century.

More than a century later, Kobo Daishi visited and practised austerities and had a vision of Kongo Zao Gongen and so carved an image of him and placed it in a cave.

Each of the 36 temples on this Fudo pilgrimage has a statue of one of the 36 young acolytes called Doji. The one here is called Harahara Doji.

Susuharae is an old traditional ritual of sweeping away soot, dust, cobwebs etc from under the eaves of shrines and temples  for the new year using a takesao, a long bamboo with straw or leaf "brush" at the end. A short video of it being done ceremonially at Dazaifu Tenmangu in this old post.

The temple fell into disuse but was revived at the end of the 16th century by Hachisuka Iemasu, the Daimyo of Awa Domain. He took the Zao Gongen statue and enshrined it within the castle town but strange things happened so he made a copy and placed the copy back at Konjiji. Strange things continued to happen so he realized the statue need to be returned which is why there are two statues now.

The temple sits at an elevation of 310 meters, and has superb views down on Tokushima and the Yoshino River. I will post more of the views in the next post in the series.

About 500 meters from the main temple is a waterfall used for ascetic training. I suspect that the ladder I passed on the trail up the mountain was one way to get to the falls.

I believe the masks pictured below were carved by a famous Noh mask carver from Shiga.

The first two masks are Tengu, but the third is a Noh mask representation of Fudo Myoo

The previous post was on the way up the mountain to the temple.

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Mitakidera Temple 13 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage Part 2 Up Above

This is a continuation of a previous post on the lower parts of Mitakidera, a beautiful temple complex near Hiroshima City centre.

The top waterfall is behind the main hall, and then the water runs underneath the main hall and come out as a small purification waterfall.

So, of course there is a Fudo.

On the same level as the Hondo is the Mikigongendo, with a pair of large, wooden tengu  flanking the entrance. It is a branch of Miki Daigongen established by Kobo Daishi on Mount Misen on nearby Itsukushima Island in 806.

With a pair of Tengu as companions, Miki Daigongen is three "demon gods", Tsuichokishin, a trace of Dainichi, Jibikishin, a trace of Kokuzo, and Marakishin, a trace of Fudo Myoo. I believe that Mt. Misen and here are the only sites connected to this deity. It is said that Japan's first Prime Minister, Ito Hirobumi, was a devotee of Miki Daigongon.

The main hall as seen from the the Mikigongendo.

There are a lot more statues scattered around the grounds at this upper level.

Many of the statues in this part of the temple grounds appear to my eyes to be Indian in style

Some even look more Southeast Asian in style....

Inrerestingly, on my first visit to Mitakidera many years ago, I marvelled at the flowers in front of the many, many statues. I imagined how much work it must be to keep freash flowers on so many statues. A little later I noticed they were plastic.

To my untrained eye this looks Chinese or Thai...

The highest of the three waterfalls is Yumei no taki.

These are a kind of toba, a kind of memorial tablet usually placed on graves and tombs. I have not seen them purified in water like this before...

On the veranda of the Main Hall is a really interesting pair of statues. This first one has fangs like Fudo Myoo, one up, one down, and he is holding a Jaki, a kind of small demon. Usually it is the four Shitenno who are depicted holding down Jaki under their feet, but I have never seen any of the Shitenno with fangs and I don't remember seeing them holding the Jaki.

I wonder if this is a statue of one of the Mikidaigongen enshrined nearby. The one that is considered a trace of Fudo?

There are also a pair of Nio on the veranda too.

The other statue with them is also unlike anything seen before, with great spiky hair or head.

It is flinging a Jaki, again something I have not seen a Shitenno do, nor does it look like any Shitenno I have seen. Could this also be one of the Mikidaigongen? If anyone has a clue, please let me know.

The previous post, which included another 28 photos, focused on the lower part of the Mitakidera complex.

From Innoshima Island to Ikuchijima Island

 

I came down the west side of Mount Shirataki and reached the road running along the shoreline of Innoshima Island.

I then headed south to the bridge that would take me over to Ikuchi Island

I have covered the Ikuchi Bridge previously when I walked the Shimanami Kaido, so if you want any specs please check this link.

To get to the path for pedestrians and cycles to access the bridge meant passing under the bridge. Fortunately for pedestrians there was a short-cut so I didn't have to follow the very long and shallow-sloped cycle path.

An unusual little "park" made by someone local methinks.

Ikuchi Bridge only has one level so pedestrians are are in the open and can enjoy the views a bit better.

Once on Ikuchijima I headed around the north coast of the island, avoided the main attraction of the island, Kosanji, and headed towards Kojoiji Temple, my destination.

The last two photos in those post were not at a religious site, rather outside a stonemasons factory....

The previous post in this series on day 12 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the hundreds of statues atop Mount Shirataki.