Art of Hashikuraji Temple

 

Hashikuraji is a mountain temple in the mountains that border Tokushima and Kagawa on Shikoku.

It was the "inner temple" of Konpira-san, once a major pilgrimage destination in its own right, and since Meiji Konpira became a shrine.

While not all temples have komainu guardian statues, Kashikuraji has quite a few. It also has several shinto torii gates. The top photo is the older type of komainu, wooden and kept indoors.

There are also plenty of carvings adorning the buildings at Hashikuraji. In fact when I was there I noticed free worksheets for kids available at the temple that encouraged kids to explore and find all the examples of animals, including mythical ones, at the temple.

Hashikuraji was a major centre for Shugendo and yamabushi and so has a pair of big wooden Tengu masks.

As is fairly typical, there was a pair, one of the long-nosed Tengu, and one of the Karasu Tengu with beak;

The honzon of the temple is a Konpira Daigongen, though it is a secret buddha and the last four generations of head priest have not even seen it.

There are a few statues scattered around the rounds though.

One of the newer ones is a Bokefuji Kannon. prayed to for protection from dementia and Alzeimers, this is a new version of Kannon that is becoming very common. Typically the standing Kannon will have a small, elderly couple at its feet.

There is a large outdoor altar to Fudo Myoo, and in fact this was what I had come here for, while walking the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on the temple buildings and the temples history.

Yoshiwarayama Kakurinji Temple 80 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

Kakurinji is located on a low hilltop on the bank of the Matsuura River not far from its mouth where it enters the sea.

I approached it from the rear and so was able to enter using a small footpath rather than the longer main road.

It is a fairly new temple, being founded in 1947 and the main hall dating back to 1954.

A Bokefuji Kannon statue is prominent. Bokefuji is a new Japanese version of Kannon that has become increasingly popular. Depicted with an old couple at its feet, Bokefuji Kannon is prayed to for those wishing to not suffer dementia and Alzheimers.

In fact Kakurinji is now one of the temples on a new pilgrimage, a Kyushu  Kannon pilgrimage to prevent dementia.

It is the 80th temple on the Kyushu 108 pilgrimage but also on the standard Kyushu Kannon Pilgrimage.

The temple is known locally as Koyasu-san or Koyasu Kannon due to its connection with Koyasu Daishi, a legend from Koenji, temple 61 on the Shikoku Ohenro.

At the gate of Koenji Temple Kobo Daishi met a woman having a difficult birth and his prayers enabled a safe birth. The Koyasu Daishi faith spread and led to the formation of thousands of Koyasu co-fraternities across Japan in the early 20th century.

The Karatsu Koyasu-ko was the group that brought Kakurinji into existence and so has a reputation as a temple to pray for safe and successful births.

There were a lot of Fudo Myo statues in the ground.....

The honzon of the temple is a Yakushi Nyorai and also a Koyasu Daishi.

The mountain name, Yoshiwarayama, comes from a wealthy local family, the Yoshiwara, who donated the land for the temple.

The previous post in this series was on the Udono Cliff Carvings upstream.

Hoko-in Temple 70 Kyushu pilgrimage

 

A statue of Kobo Daishi, the focus of the Kyushu 108 sacred sites pilgrimage, stands outside temple 70, Hoko-in near Arita in Saga.

I reached it on day 70 of my walk along the pilgrimage, a curious coincidence.

A large Bokefuji Kannon statue stands in the grounds. An increasingly popular form of Kannon, prayed to for protection against dementia and senility.

The honzon is a "secret" 11-faced Kannon, and the temple is also part of the Kyushu Kannon pilgrimage.

The temple was founded in the early Edo period when a monk came down from nearby Mount Kurokami.,A shugendo center, and home to temple 69 which I will be visiting tomorrow.

With the ban on Shuigendo in the early Meiji period the temple fell into disuse and disrepair, but was revived in 1968. The Daishi statue in the Daishi Hall was brought from another Shugendo mountain temple, underscoring the historical connection to Yamabushi.

The temple unusually has a Mizuko hall as well as the main hall and Daishi hall.

This was to be the only temple of the day for me as I spent the rest of the day as a tourist exploring Arita.

The previous temple was number 79 Zenpukuji.