is a

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 in Uzumasa, Ukyō Ward,

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

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 ...

. The temple is also known by the names and , and was formerly known as , and . Kōryū-ji is said to be the oldest temple in Kyoto, having been constructed in 603 by

Hata no Kawakatsu Hata no Kawakatsu (秦河勝, alternatively read as ''Hada no Kōkatsu''), or Hata no Miyatsuko no Kawakatsu (秦造河勝), was a semi-legendary statesman active during the Asuka period in Japan. He is recorded as serving under Empress Suiko and E ...

upon receiving a Buddhist statue from

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half ...

. Fires in 818 and 1150 destroyed the entire temple complex, but it was rebuilt several times since.Japan Tourist Info.
/ref>

Wooden statue of Bodhisattva

The temple contains a number of important pieces of cultural heritage. One of

national treasures A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

in Japan (registered on June 9, 1951), a wooden image of the Bodhisattva

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

sitting contemplatively in the half-lotus position, called is amongst the rare objects that are preserved and displayed at Kōryū-ji. The temple is also renowned for its , traditionally held in mid-October, but currently suspended.JNTO
/ref>

Notes

References

Daijirin is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967), ''Jirin'' (辞林 "Fores ...

, 2nd edition *

Daijisen The is a general-purpose Japanese dictionary published by Shogakukan in 1995 and 1998. It was designed as an "all-in-one" dictionary for native speakers of Japanese, especially high school and university students. History Shogakukan intended fo ...

, 1st edition *

Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mi ...

, 5th edition * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1956). ''Kyoto: The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869.'' Kyoto: The Ponsonby Memorial Society.

External links

images of Hondo (1730)

images of the statuary
{{Coord, 35, 0, 55.80, N, 135, 42, 26.31, E, region:JP_scale:20000_source:jawiki, display=title Shingon Buddhism Buddhist temples in Kyoto Important Cultural Properties of Japan Maitreya Prince Shōtoku

Wooden statue of Bodhisattva

Notes

See also

References

External links