Monday, December 2, 2013

Iwano Yakushi-do



My final stop on my way to the station at the end of my second day of walking the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was this small temple next to the station.


A statue of Yakushi Nyorai is enshrined in the small building at the top of a flight of stairs. This statue was at the bottom of the stairs and is not the Yakushi, which was hidden and could not be seen. According to the signboard it is one of 7 Yakushi Nyorai statues that date from the time of Emperor Shomu who ruled in the middle of the eighth Century.


The statue was originally in a cave but sometime in the ninth Century a young woman who had just lost her parents was sleeping in the cave and had a dream that told her she shoukld marry a certain gentleman who lived over in Kitayama. She did, and with her new husband built the hall and moved the statue to it.


Judging by the number of prayer slips left here it continues to be a popular site.

And so that was the end of my second day....... looking forward to the next leg....



Posted by Ojisanjake at 3:29 PM
Labels: , ,

4 comments:

  1. Massimo MarengoDecember 4, 2013 at 5:20 AM

    Walking the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage? How does it work?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OjisanjakeDecember 4, 2013 at 7:29 AM

      one foot in front of the other.... sorry I do not understand the question.

      Delete
  2. Massimo MarengoDecember 5, 2013 at 2:09 AM

    Oh I am sorry, yes my question was a little too vague... I read you mentioning "stations", and "first day", and I was wondering if this was supposed to be done in some specific order that takes several days to complete.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OjisanjakeDecember 5, 2013 at 6:36 AM

      its somehwere between 250 to 300 kms long and the temples are in order. I did it in sections rather than all in one go, so the second section began with the third day of walking. To get back to the point where I ended the second day I took a train.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)