Unjuji Temple 27 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 

Unjuji is a very large Rinzai Zen temple dating to 1322.

The plaque bearing the name on the large, 2-storey main gate is said to be written by Emperor Go-Daigo.

After passing through the first gate, the Important Cultural Property Four Legged Gate, a long lantern-lined path then turns 90 degrees, and then the Main Gate, Buddha Hall, and Abbots Quarters all align in what is known as Zen style. This is common in Kyoto, but quite rare for a rural temple.

The two-storey main gate is quite impressive. On the second floor are rakan statues. The gate was built in the Edo Period but is in Kakamura Period style.

So many of the statues and buildings are covered in ofuda left by pilgrims

Further in are more statues covered in moss and ofuda, including a Sake Abstaining Jizo.

On the left is the Hojo Pond with its Yakushi-do

The lilies in the pond bloom from early to mid summer.

On the right is the small Kannon Hall.

It houses a Kannon noted for fertility and child rearing alongside a Jizo and a Manjushri. This is the hall that all the pilgrimas primarily come for.

By the side of the Kannon Hall is a curious statue I dont remember seeing anywhere else. It appears to be a Kannon holding a child that is sitting on the shoulders of another Buddha....

Next, one comes to the main hall.

Unusually, it has a stone floor and can be entered without removing shoes.

The honzon is a Nenge Misho Shakyamuni. This translates as "smiling and twirling a flower Buddha, and is a Zen thing referring to the wordless transmission of the dharma....

There is a delightful ceiling dragon painting.

The Imperial Messenger Gate leads into the huge Abbots quarters and the Founders Hall with a big garden behind.

Since this visit, a new Head Priest has taken over, and he has now created a raked gravel garden in the area seen below.

The previous post was on the walk across the Nogi Plain to get here.

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Sasaguri Pilgrimage Temples 22 Kirinokidani Yakushi-do, 2 Matsugase Amida-do, & 56 Matsugase Jizo-do

 

Temple 22, Kirinokidani Yakushi-do is in the same area as the last couple of temples, an Amida-do and a Dainichi-do.

Like most temples on the pilgrimage, it is small, unmanned, and packed with statues.

It was located at the base of the mountain but moved up here several generations ago by the current caretakers grandfather.

Not sure what the dragon statue is about, nor the "ascetic master" statue.

The main hall has the new, golden honzon as well as the origanl small, stone honzon. This seems to be the case with many of the temples, indicating to me that originally many of the temples when the pilgrimage was originally established were just simple roadside altars with a stone statue. Over the years since the local people have gradually built up each site with buildings and many, many statues.

Kirinokidani Yakushi-do was at the top of the mountain, and the next temple was way down at the base.

Matsugase Amida-do is temple number 2,  just across the river from the first temple, the huge Nanzoin.

For me, it was nice to once again come across numerous Fudo statues...

Among the statues in the main hall, the most interesting was a kami statue... Awashima Daimyojin, on the far right of the photo below, and the subject of the 3rd photo below.

It was believed to be effective against women's diseases, especially sexually transmitted ones.

Women from the geisha district of Hakata would make the journey out to the temple....

The final temple of the day for me was the Matsugase Jizo-do. This was the end of the second day, and like the first day was filled with so much......Anyone visiting the area should explore this wonderful pilgrimage, and get away from the obvious attraction of Nanzo-in, which I will be visiting tomorrow.

It was very close to the previous temple and was relocated here in 2011; I suspect because of road-widening work on the main highway.

Outside is a small 6 Jizo hall, and inside the main hall are ten Jizo statues, including the honzon.

Another small snake statue fashioned out of a twisty tree root. No idea what the Kewpie dolls are about; photo below and the top photo of the post.

The previous post in this series covered two pilgrimage temples plus a non-pilgrimage temple filled with dolls.

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84,000 Medicine Buddhas

Ichibata Yakushi Temple

Ichibata Yakushi Temple 26 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

Tanoura Kannondo Temple 80 & Tanoura Yakushido Temple 59 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

A striking feature of temple 80, Tanoura Kannondo, is the Seigando Hall with around 300 small statues of a seated Kobo Daishi.

Temple 80, Tanoura Kannondo, and temple 59 Tanoura Yakushido, are located adjacent to each other.

Unfortunately there is very little in terms of dates and history.

As usual there are lots of Fudo Myoo statues as well as others....

The "main hall" is a small cave that was a sutra repository about 300 years ago.

The honzon is a Thousand-armed Kannon. There are numerous other Kannon statues at the temple.

There is one particularly fine, huge sugi tree.

A Benzaiten statue next to yet another Kannon statue....

Nest door is the Yakushi-do, temple 59....

A statue of Fujiki Tosukethe founder of the Sasaguri Pilgrimage. It is believed his hermitage was located near here.

There are also many Fudo statues here...

The honzon is a Yakushi Nyorai, commonly known as the Medicine Buddha.

The statue of Kobo Daishi with his dog relates to a legend that while travelling with his dog they were attacked by a wild boar and the dog dies defending Kobo Daishi.

I have not come across this story anywhere else so it may be a local story...

The previous post was on the nearby temple 30, Higyokudo.

If 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.