Yokomineji Temple 60 Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage

 

At 745 meters above sea level, Yokomineji, temple 60, is the highest of the pilgrimage temples in Ehime, and the second highest of all the 88 pilgrimage temples.

I visited in February about 11 years ago and in the autumn there had been a major storm that severely damaged the trail up the mountain.

On the lowest slopes of Mount Ishizuchi, Yokomineji is one of the Henro Korogashi.... hard to reach temples, and with the path blocked by storm debris it was even more so ......

Said to have been founded by famed and legendary founder of Shugendo, En no Gyoja, in 651.

Gyoki, nd then a century later Kobo Daishi, also visited.

Almost to the shrine you pass the Furubo Jizo-do. There used to be a small settlement in the area as during the Edo period this was a well travelled road.

Yokomineji has quite a complex history not made easier by the reconfiguring of the Jaoanese religious landscape in the latter half of the 19th century.

When Enno Gyoja founded it he carved a statue of Zao Gongen, the main deity of what is now Shugendo. Later when Kobo Daishi came he carved a Dainichi statue and made it the "main image".

What seems certain is that it was a syncretic site with both kami and Buddhist elements. A report from the 17th century writes of a Zao Gongen main shrine, and a Kaisan-do dedicated to Sekisen, and a hall dedicated to Dainichi and Kobo Daishi.

In early Meiji all the Buddhist elements were removed and a new temple hall built near the Niomonto house them. This was called Omineji.

What was Yokomineji Temple became a branch shrine of Ishizuchi Shrine and a temple at the base of the mountain became the 60th pilgrimage temple.

By 1909 it was reinstated as Yokomineji Temple, though the observant notice that the architecture remains shrine-style.

The statue a few photos above is a Hoshiku Daishi. Holding a sword, I believe this represents Kobo Daishi performing a star ritual when he visited here. It stands on the site of the former Kaisan-do.

I did not spend much time exploring as it was very cold and there didn't seem to be anyone around. I certainly saw no other pilgrimas.

As I was about to leave it started snowing. 

On the way down I stopped in at Tsumashiro Daimyojin Shrine.

The guardian deity of the temple, many of the crude torii had rotted and collapsed.

The previous temple on the pilgrimage was Koryuji, the 10th bangai temple.

Bishamonten & Other Treasures at Anyoji Temple

Bishamonten & Other Treasures at Anyoji Temple

The honzon of Anyoji Temple near Kurashiki is a golden Bishamonten.

These first six photos are taken in the main hall.

The central, golden statue is Bishamonten depicted seated, whereas he is normally depicted standing. I think the giant Bishamonten statue sitting atop the main gate is modelled on this one.

Bishamonten is, like the other Shitenno, Four Heavenly Kings, originally a Hindu deity brought into Japan through Chinese Buddhism.

Unlike the other three, Jikokuten, Zochoten, and Komokuten, Bishamonten can often be found alone, separated from the Shintenno, and is in fact one of the Seven Lucky Gods.

Also displayed in the main hall is the statue above of Ganesha in its Japanese form of Shoten or Kangiten.

As well as the main hall, the Jogando displays 31 statues, mostly of Bishamonten carved in the Heian Period.

Usually known as Tamonten when part of the Shitenno, Bishamonten seems to be his name when apart from the group.

Like all deities in Japan, both Buddhist and Kami, he has a variety of attributes and appearances though is usually depicted with a pagoda in one hand.

Like the other Shitenno he is usually depicted wearing armour, and usually with either a baton, or a spear in the other hand.

As one of the Shitenno he is considered the guardian of the north and his colour is black.

Most famously he is considered a patron and protector of samurai, and within the Shingon tradition is often equated with  Hachiman

The above statue is, I believe, of Kichijoten, wife of Bishamonten and an Indian Goddess of wealth, beauty, and fertility.

The photo above is, I believe, a modern statues of Zao Gongen. It is possible that it is now on display inside the refurbished Daishi Hall and not the main hall as when I visited.

In Japan the messenger of Bishamonten is the centipede, possibly because of the belief that centipedes can sense gold.

In Japan Bishamonten is also associated with the Tiger, probably connected to a legend about Shoko Taishi.

Usually, all four of the Shitenno are depicted with a foot on a small demon-like creature called Jyaki in Japanese.

The previous posts on Anyoji include the Dragon Kannon Hall, the Seven Lucky Gods, The Tie-cutting Fudo Myo, the unusual Pagoda,  and the Teahouse.

Onomatopia

Tanga Daigongen

 

After descending from Shichiga Pass I start to head down a narrow valley towards Yuasa and cannot fail to notice Tanga Daigongen.

Built on a steep slope, the site is a collection of colourful orange metal torii with numerous shrines behind them.

According to the legend, Emperor Shirakawa fell ill at this spot while on a pilgrimage to Kumano and a white-haried old man appeared and helped him, so Shirakawa enshrined him here as Tanga Gongen.

There are several Inari shrines here, and several shrines to Fudo Myo.

The main kami though appears to be Tanga Daigongen which I believe is a manifestation of Kono Zao Gongen, the head deity of Shugendo. Photo 10 is a statue of Kono Zao Gongen.

Photo 9 is of En no Gyoja, the legendary mystic who is said to be the founder of Shugendo and who here is named Shinben Daibosatsu.

Also enshrined here are a Koyasu Daishi, a Tatee Jizo, and an Eleven-Headed Kannon as well as several more kami.

I love these kind of places as they mix so many strands and layers of religious history across all the artificial barriers of sects and schools...

Very "folk" as opposed to so many of the bigger establishments that are overtly political and somewhat sterile.

This was day 7 of my walk on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, said to be the oldest "circuit" pilgrimage in Japan, and still following the Kumano Kodo Kiiji Route at this point.

The previous post was on the route up to the pass. Once I reached Yuasa I jumped ahead by train to Kimiidera Temple.

Ishizushi Shrine Nankoku

 

Ishizuchi Shrine is located in Nankoku near the southern coast of Kochi in Shikoku. I stopped in while walking the Shikoku Pilgrimage between temples 31 Chikurinji, and 32 Zenjibuji.

In the 9th Century the shrine was added to the Engi Shiki, a government document that listed shrines that received offerings from the imperial government.

Behind it is a small shrine built at the mouth to a small cave called Ishido. Ishido Shrine enshrines Zao Gongen, the primary deity of Shugendo mountain worship. The famous Ishizuchi mountain and shrine in northern Shikoku, a Shugendo centre,  is said to be the okunoin.

The entrance to the cave is so small that humans have not ventured inside, but a local story tells of a dog, conveniently with a wooden nametag, chased a rabbit into the cave and seven days later the dog and rabbits corpses were found in a cave far across on the other side of the island suggesting that the cave system extends vast distances.

The three primary kami enshrined here are Ishitsushi no kami, Akatsushi no kami, and Soktsushi no kami. They are now read in the same way as the kami of the famous Ishizuchi Shrine, ut a source I consult a lot regarding Engi Shiki shrines suggest that in earlier times they were read as the three kami enshrined in Sumiyoshi Shrine. Different written sources "read" names in different ways and so give different meanings as do/did different commentators throughout history. The kami now said to be enshrined in many shrines are different from those in historical times,with most shrines taking the Meiji era readings and classifications as the "established" ones.

The previous post in this series that looks at the many sites and sights found between the temples of the Ohenro Pilgrimage was the Makino Botanical Gardens.