is a Chisan

Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and is sometimes called "Tōmitsu" (東密 lit. "Esoteric uddhismof Tō- ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

in Shimanto,

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Temple 37 on the

Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long history, ...

, the deities that are worshipped at this temple are Fudō Myō-ō,

Shō Kannon Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to: Music * ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument * ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument * Sho?, a Dubai rock band People * Shō (given name), including ''Sho'' * Shō (surn ...

Amida Nyōrai Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

Yakushi Nyorai Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

, and Jizō Bosatsu. The temple is said to have been founded by

Gyōki was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-d ...

during 729–749.

History

Gyōki founded Iwamoto-ji in 729 after receiving an imperial command by Emperor Shōmu who had an interest in establishing a system of provincial temples in Japan. He originally built a group of 7 temples to represent the seven stars and seven good fortunes described in Ninnō-gyō. Kōbō-Daishi arrived at Shimanto Town in 810 and added 5 shrines and 5 temples to the area over a span of 14 years. Several fires caused by war (1573-1592) burned the temples down and were temporarily closed. During 1652–1688, the temple, now known as Iwamoto-ji, was re-built in a different location than its original temple. The 5

honzon , sometimes referred to as a Gohonzon ( or ), is the enshrined main image or principal deity in Japanese Buddhism. The buddha, bodhisattva, or mandala image is located in either a temple or a household butsudan. The image can be either a statue ...

that survived from the fire at the other temples were permanently moved to Iwamoto-ji in 1889, and still remain on the temple grounds today.

Buildings

Hondō Main hall or Main Temple is the building within a Japanese Buddhist monastery compound ('' garan'') which enshrines the main object of veneration.Kōjien Japanese dictionary Because the various denominations deliberately use different terms, thi ...

Sanmon A or is the most important mon of a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple, and is part of the Zen '' shichidō garan'', the group of buildings that forms the heart of a Zen Buddhist temple.JAANUS It can be often found in temples of other denominations ...

: *

Shōrō The two main types of bell tower in Japan The or is the bell tower of a Buddhist temples in Japan, Buddhist temple in Japan, housing the temple's . It can also be found at some Shinto shrines which used to function as temples (see article ' ...

References

Buddhist temples in Kōchi Prefecture Temples of Shingon-shū Chisan-ha Shikoku Pilgrimage Sites {{Japan-Buddhist-temple-stub

History

Buildings

See also

References