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.

Yamate Kannondo Temple 52 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 

Day 2 of our walk along the magnificent Sasaguri Pilgrimage began where it had ended the day before, at Chikuzen-Yamate Station.

Temple 52 is easily noticed by the unusual tall structure. Included at the site is the Watatake Inari Daimyojin Shrine.

Next to it is the tall structure with a tall painting.

The painting is of  a fairly young Kobo Daishi and was the result of an old monk named Mori Jundo who sat by the roadside and begged for donations from passers-by around 1949-1952. 

Like all the other little "temples" on the pilgrimage there is a large, eclectic collection of small statuettes of a range of Buddhas and Kami.

The honzon is an Eleven-faced Kannon, although I believe the one now is a newer relacement of the original stone one which is also on display.

There are also quite a few statues of Fudo Myoo, in fact, as I have mentioned before, I have never encoubtered so many Fudo statues as here in Sasaguri...

The previous post was on the last two temples of day one, both very close to ths one.

Teahouse at Anyoji Temple

 

While exploring the grounds of Anyoji Temple in the mountains north of Kurashiki I came upon this thatched teahouse.

There was no information about at at the site, and nothing at all on the temple website.

I have also scoured the web but have been unable to find a single reference to it.

If anyone has any information on it, please leave a comment below.

Anyoji was a big surprise to me and knew nothing about it before arriving on day 7 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgimage heading over the mountains from Soja towards Kurashiki.

There will be several more posts and I have already covered the unusual pagoda, the Tie-Cutting Fudo Myoo, the Seven Lucky Gods, and the Dragon Kannon Hall.

Ikuta Shrine Sannomiya

 

Ikuta Shrine is the most important shrine in Sannomiya, part of Kobe in Hyogo. It was the third-ranked shrine in the province, the sannomiya, which is why the area around it took that name.

My room for the night was nearby so I passed through the grounds on my way there.

A "shinto" wedding was taking place. As I have mentioned before, Shinto Weddings are a very modern thing and not at all traditional.

Christian weddings have a much older history in Japan than Shinto weddings. The first shinto wedding was in 1904 for the Crown Prince. It was modelled on royal weddings of Europe and especially the UK.

Later a few elites had Shinto weddings and before the war it became popular with salarymen and army officers who chose it because it was modern and untraditional. Ikuta Shrine is known to have performed shinto weddings in the prewar years.

In 1945 it was suddenly made traditional and has gained in popularity since then.

According to myth, Ikuta Shrine was established by Empress Jingu when her ship was becalmed here.

She was told by the kami Wakahirume that she wished to stay here, so Jingu set up the shrine. Wakhirume is considered to be either  a younger sister of Amaterasu, although sometimes she is thought of as a daughter of Amaterasu or even Amaterasu as a girl.

Over the centuries numerous other shrines have been made inside the grounds, including Sumiyoshi, Hachiman, Suwa, Hiyoshi, Inari, and a Sai shrine. As is evident in the final photo, Ikuta Shrine is one of the increasing number of shrines "specializing" in matchmaking.

This visit was at the end of my third day walking the Kinki Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage. The previous post was on one of the Inari shrines at Ikuta.

The Pagoda at Anyoji Temple

 

Pagodas come in a variety of forms, with perhaps the kind I saw a few hours earlier at Hofukuji being the most common.

An older style, like the one at Rurikoji, may be more archetypal, but fewer of them are being built nowadays. Fairly common, though perhaps not so recognized as a pagoda, is the Tahoto style largely linked to Shingon temples.

The pagoda at Anyoji is in a style I can only remember having seen once before, at Yakuoji Temple on Shikoku.

The pagoda at Anyoji is modelled on a ceramic model of a pagoda that was discovered in the medieval sutra mound excavated behind the temple. Many of the other treasures unearthed there are on display at the temple.

Bishamonten, the main deity of the temple, is usually depicted holding a small pagoda in one hand, and the big statue of Bishamonten on the main gate is depicted holding this style of pagoda.

The pagoda is only open to the public a few days a year, unfortunately not when I was there, and inside is a Kannon flanked by other statues including a Bishamonten.

The previous post was on the Fudo Myo statues at Anyoji. Other posts on this interesting temple were on the 7 Lucky Gods here, and the Dragon Kannon Hall.