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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 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 the southeast of
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
, Japan. Founded in 992, it is the head temple of the Bodaisen Shingon sect.


History

Shōryaku-ji is said to have been founded by , son of Fujiwara no Kaneie, in 992, at the behest of Emperor Ichijō. The temple burned to the ground in the 1180 assault on Nara by Taira no Shigehira. Revived the following century, Shōryaku-ji fell into decline in the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
and most of the buildings of the garan have been lost.


Buildings

The Hondō and
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 ' ...
are from the Taishō period (1916 and 1925 respectively). The sukiya-style reception hall from
Enpō (contemporarily written as 延寳) is the after ''Kanbun'' and before '' Tenna.'' This period spanned the years from September 1673 to September 1681. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1673 : The new era of ''Enpō'' (meaning "Prolon ...
9 (1681) is an Important Cultural Property.


Treasures

The honzon, a gilt bronze Yakushi Nyorai of the
Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...
, is a hibutsu. It has been designated an Important Cultural Property, alongside a Southern Song
celadon Celadon () is a term for pottery denoting both wares ceramic glaze, glazed in the jade green Shades of green#Celadon, celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware" (the term specialists now tend to use), and a type of transparent glaze, ...
bowl excavated from the precinct, and scroll thirty from a
Nara-period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara, Nara, Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained ...
Ekottara Agama The ''Ekottara Āgama'' (Sanskrit; ) is an early Indian Buddhist text, of which currently only a Chinese translation is extant ( Taishō Tripiṭaka 125). The title ''Ekottara Āgama'' literally means "Numbered Discourses," referring to its orga ...
, known as or sutras with the red seal of Zenkō, now kept at Nara National Museum. A Kamakura-period
Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
painting and a pair of scrolls with an Ise
Mandala A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...
of the
Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...
are Prefectural Cultural Properties, as are two standing wooden Heian-period
bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
s traditionally identified as having come originally from , and a Kamakura-period sculpture of Kujaku Myōō. A Kamakura-period scroll of Yakushi and the Twelve Heavenly Generals is a Municipal Cultural Property and is kept at Nara National Museum.


Flora

The temple's Japanese Chinquapin forest is a Prefectural Natural Monument.


References


External links

*
Shōryaku-ji
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoryaku-ji Buddhist temples in Nara, Nara 992 establishments Shingon Buddhism 10th-century establishments in Japan 10th-century Buddhist temples Temples of Bhaiṣajyaguru