Ishiteji Temple Part 1

 

Ishite-ji Temple is number 51 on the 88 temple Shikoku Pilgrimage known as Ohenro.

It is located near Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama City and is very popular with non-pilgrims as well as pilgrims.

My dilemma when it came time for this post was in how to choose from the almost 200 photos I took here, and decided to post about half of them but spread over 4 posts to make them manageable.

The temple was said to be founded by Gyoki in 728.

Later Kukai visited and changed it to be a Shingon temple.

At that time it was called Anyo-ji.

The Niomon, dating all the way back to 1318, is a National Treasure.

The honzon of Ishiteji is a Yakushi Nyorai.

The three-storey Pagoda is about the same age as the Niomon, and it is an Important Cultural Property.

Ishite-ji literally means "stone hand temple" and refers to the legend of Emon Saburo.

His story can be found in the post on Monjuin Temple that I had visited earlier in the day.

A small stone with an inscription is viewable in the temple treasure house is said to be the one found in the hand of the new-born baby.

The belfry, 3 photos above, also dates back to the early 14th century, though the bell is said to be a little older.

Many temples are quite, sedate, meditative places, conforming to a certain image of Buddhist temples.

Some, however, are noisy, colourful, and crowded, and Ishiteji is one of this katter kind.

There are numerous smaller halls and shrines scattered around, and an unusually large number of statues and paintings.

Part of the reason I took so many pictures was that the light was great, but also there werejust so many statues, many of which, in the upcoming posts, are most unusual

The previous temple was Hanta-ji Temple, number 50.

Next part click below

Ishiteji Temple Part 2

Monjuin Temple & Emon Saburo

 

Monjuin is a small temple to the south of Matsuyama City that is the 9th bangai, or bekkaku, temple on the famous Shikoku Pilgrimage known as Ohenro. bangai are the 20 "extra" temples on top of the 88 regular temples of the pilgrimage.

Monjuin is located between temples 47, Yasakiji, and 48, Saitinji, and was built on the site of the former home of a man called Emon Saburo, whose legend is connected with the foundation of the pilgrimage itself and also the practice of osettai, the giving of alms to pilgrims.

According to the story, Emon Saburo was a very wealthy merchant and one day a mendicant monk asked him for alms. He refused and also broke the begging bowl of the monk who was actually Kobo Daishi himself.

After each of his 8 sons fell ill and died, Emon realized it was caused by his actions against Kobo Daishi and so set off around Shikoku to try and catch up with him to ask for forgiveness. A burial mound near temple 46, Joruji, is said to be the grave of his 8 sons.

After completely traveling around Shikoku twenty times and failing to meet up with Kobo Daishi he decided to reverse his direction of travel and go in an anti-clockwise direction.

 

On the mountainside between temples 11 and 12 in Tokushima, Emon, exhausted and close to death, collapsed. Kobo Daishi appeared and granted him absolution. He asked to be reborn into a wealthy family so that he could restore a neglected temple.

Later a child was born clutching a stone inscribed with the words "Emon Saburo is reborn". Such a stone is on display at temple 51 Ishiteji, in Matsuyama.

The honzon at Monju-in is a "secret" Monju Bosatsu. I was quite impressed with the number of statues and reliefs on display in the grounds of such a small temple.

The previous post in the series was Yasakaji Temple