Ryuzoji Temple 17 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage Part Two

 

This is the second part of my post on Ryuzoji Temple in Yamaguchi City. The previous post can be read here.

Above the main buildings is this large Blue Fudo Myoo and attendants

Behind it are the Tsuzumi waterfalls, according to the legend discovered by En no Gyoja, which led to the establishment of the temple.

The falls are 37 meters high, with three tiers of 18, 3, and 16 meters.

The falls were used by yamabushi for training.

The ten-metre high Fudo statue was, I think, created in 1989 as part of a collection of Fudo Myoo's around Yamaguchi, of which it is the12th.

See the previous post for more of the history of the temple.

I visited on November 25th. 2014, day 23 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

The trail leads up to a small cave which is the okunoin of the temple, but I did not venture that far.

En no Gyoja, the legendary founder of Shugendo and the discoverer of the falls and cave.

I believe these two little demons are the one that En no Gyoja "tamed" to do his bidding.

I then headed in to the temples small Treasure House....

The previous post was on the approach to the temple and the main buildings. with a National Monument Gingko tree and a quite rare statue of Kannon.

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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.