is a
Buddhist temple
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...
of the
Tendai sect located in the city of
Shibukawa in
Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Its ''
honzon'' is a bronze statue of . The temple is also referred to as simply the . It is the 16th stop on the
Bandō Sanjūsankasho
The ("The Bandō 33 Kannon Pilgrimage") is a series of 33 Buddhist temples in Eastern Japan sacred to Goddess Kannon. Bandō is the old name for what is now the Kantō region,Donald Richie used in this case because the temples are all in the Pref ...
pilgrimage route of 33 temples sacred to Kannon in the Kantō region.
History
The foundation of the temple is uncertain and all ancient documentary evidence pre-dating the
Edo period has been lost. According to temple's own legend, it was founded in the
Asuka period under the sponsorship of the
''Kokushi'' of
Kōzuke province Takanobe Ienari. during the reign of
Empress Suiko, who invited
Ekan
Hyegwan (Japanese: was a priest who came across the sea from Goguryeo to Japan in the Asuka period. He is known for introducing the Chinese Buddhist school of Sanlun to Japan.
Hyegwan studied under Jizang and learned Sanron. In 625 (the 33rd ye ...
, a high-ranking prelate from
Goguryeo to introduce Buddhism to the region. The ''honzon'' statue of Kannon Bosatsu is said to have been then personal statue of his daughter, Ikaho-hime. The temple has bene destroyed by fires several times in its history.
The temple’s two-story Rokkaku-dō with a hexagonal base is registered as a Gunma Prefectural
Important Cultural Property. It contains a rotating sutra library on its ground floor and a state of
Dainichi Nyōrai on its second story.
Gallery
Mizusawa Nioh.JPG, Niō-mon
Mizusawa-dera Rokkakudo 02.jpg, Rokkaku-dō
Mizusawa Syourou.JPG, Bonshō
Mizusawa-dera Shakado 01.jpg, Shaka-dō
External links
Bando Pilgrimage site
{{Buddhist temples in Japan
Buddhist temples in Gunma Prefecture
Tendai temples
Shibukawa, Gunma
Kōzuke Province
Gunma Prefecture designated tangible cultural property