is the head temple of a branch of the

Shugendō is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local fol ...

religion called Kinpusen-Shugendō in

Yoshino district is a Districts of Japan, district located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. In 2020, the district had an estimated population of 37,086 and a population density, density of 18.05 persons per km2. The total area is 2,055 km2. On September 25, 2005, th ...

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. According to tradition, it was founded by

En no Gyōja ( b. 634, in Katsuragi (modern Nara Prefecture); d. c. 700–707) was a Japanese ascetic and mystic, traditionally held to be the founder of Shugendō, the path of ascetic training practiced by the ''gyōja'' or ''yamabushi''. He was banish ...

, who propagated a form of mountain asceticism drawing from

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

beliefs. Along with

Ōminesan-ji is an important temple of the Shugendō religion in Yoshino district, Nara prefecture, Japan. It is located at the peak of Mount Ōmine, or Sanjōgatake. According to tradition, it was founded by En no Ozunu, the founder of Shugendō, a form ...

Temple, it is considered the most important temple in Shugendō. The temple's main building, the "Zaō-Hall" (''Zaōdō'') dedicated to Zaō

gongen A , literally "incarnation", was believed to be the manifestation of a buddha in the form of an indigenous kami, an entity who had come to guide the people to salvation, during the era of shinbutsu-shūgō in premodern Japan.Encyclopedia of Shint ...

(蔵王権現), is the second largest wooden structure in Japan after the Great Buddha Hall at

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year ...

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

. Kinpusen-ji is a junction in a series of stops on

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

routes. A

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

dedicated to

Inari Ōkami , also called , is the Japanese ''kami'' of foxes, fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of Shinto. In earlier Japan, Inari was also the patron of swor ...

is attached to the main compound. In 1963, the Temple constructed a hall named Southern Court Mystic Law Hall (''Nanchō Myōhōden'') to appease the soul of the four emperors of the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...

and others who lost their lives in many battles since the "Northern and Southern Courts period" (

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

, 1336–1392). The principal image is the statue of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

(''Shaka Nyōrai''). In 2004, it was designated as part of a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

under the name ''

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the Kii Peninsula in Japan. Selection criteria The locations and paths for this heritage site were based on their historical and modern imp ...

''.

Images

File:Kinpusenji niomon2.jpg, Gate with guardians File:Kinpusenji nio2.jpg, Statue of the wrath-filled and muscular guardian

Nio are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Gautama Buddha, Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bo ...

File:Kinpusenji zaodo1.jpg, Zaōdō (Deity: Zaō gongen, "Avatar Zaō") File:Kinpusenji zaodo2.jpg, entrance of Zaōdō File:Zao-Gongen-Kimpusen-Temple-Yoshino.jpg, one of the three Zaō-gongen statues in the Zaōdō File:Kinpusenji zaodo3.jpg, carvings File:Kinpusenji Yoshino Nara08n4272.jpg, Bell tower (Shorō) File:Kinpusenji Yoshino Nara04n4272.jpg, Aizendō (deity: Aizen myōō, Sanskr.

Rāgarāja Rāgarāja ( sa, रागराज) is a deity venerated in the Esoteric and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions. He is especially revered in Chinese Esoteric Buddhism in Chinese communities as well as Shingon and Tendai in Japan. Nomenclature Rāg ...

) File:Kinpusenji Yoshino Nara03n4272.jpg, Kannondō (deity: Kannon bosatsu, "Bodhisattva

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

") File:Kinpusenji Yoshino Nara06n3200.jpg, Itoku Tenmangu File:Kinpusenji Inari1.jpg, Attached Inari shrine (Deity: Hisatomi Daimyōjin) File:Kinpusenji Inari3.jpg, Inari shrine File:Kinpusenji nanchomyohoden1.jpg, Nanchō myōhō-den File:En no gyoja-Kimpusen-ji.JPG, Statue of En no Gyōja near the Nanchō myōhō-den

References

External links

Official websiteLive camera, Kimpusen-ji, Zaōdō
Buddhist temples in Nara Prefecture World Heritage Sites in Japan National Treasures of Japan Shugendō {{Buddhist-temple-stub

Images

See also

References

External links