. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .
. Buddhist Temples and their Legends .
. Ise Saigoku 33 Kannon 伊勢西国三十三所観音巡礼 Pilgrimage .
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Kuzukaji 國束寺 Kuzuka-Ji, Watarai
涌福智山 Yufukuchizan 國束寺 Kuzukaji
The Kannon statue is 十一面観音 Juichimen Kannon.
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元9 國束寺 - Former Number 9 Kuzuka-ji temple
According to the legend, Kuzuka-ji temple was founded 1400 years ago by Prince Shōtoku (574-622), a famous politician and promoter of Buddhism. He had a vision sent from Goddess of the Sun Amaterasu, in which she ordered him to make a temple and enshrine a statue of Jūichimen Kannon (Eleven-Faced Kannon) at Mount Kuzuka, which is in the West of Ise Shrine.
It is believed that somewhere in that mountain a placenta of both Goddess Amaterasu and her younger brother Susanoō was buried.
Prince Shōtoku built a temple and enshrined Jūichimen Kannon wishing for peace, tranquility and abundance of people’s lives.
Thanks to strong support of Emperor Shōmu (701-756) and Emperor Saga (786-842) the temple prospered, having 6 sub-temples and 132 monks’ quarters in its precincts.
When Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi, 774-835, the founder of Shingon sect) visited Kuzuka-ji, he praised the Mount Kuzuka saying it is like a mountain of the Womb Realm Mandala (Taizōkai Mandara). Since then the area became a popular practice ground for Esoteric Buddhism monks.
Kuzaka-ji temple appears in a poem by 禅也法師 monk Zen’ya:
The temple is like the mountain which binds the land together
Therefore for generations to come people will look up to it with respect
「寺の名も 國を束ぬる 山なれば 代々にし高く 仰がざらめや」
The poem was included in a 16th Century collection of poetry Nendai waka shō (1532-1584), edited by Kitakabe Kuninaga (1505-1584).
At the end of 16th Century the temple got involved in war turbulence and as a result the whole complex turned to ashes.
Later, thanks to the devotion of many people and protection of daimyo Tōdō Takatora (1556-1630) and Kii Tokugawa clan, the temple was rebuilt at the mountain top.
In the following centuries it became a famous temple of the Ise region. We can imagine the scale of the rebuilt temple from painting titled Sanjō Garan Ezu (Painting of the Temple at the Mountain Top, 1834) which is kept at the Kuzuka-ji.
However 19th Century anti-Buddhist movement and post 2nd World War land reform made the temple fall into decline.
In 1953 the main statue and two halls were moved to Osaka’s Shitennō-ji temple, which lost its buildings during the air-raid in 2nd World War.
In exchange the Kuzuka-ji received the statue of Jūichimen Kannon and together with the rest of the buildings, the temple moved to the bottom of the Mount Kuzuka.
The scale of the temple is not comparable to the times when it most flourished, but the monks believe that one day it will be rebuild at the top of the mountain once again.
Until then they will follow the Buddhist teachings and pass the spirit of 「和」 harmony (wa) emphasized by Prince Shōtoku.
- source : isekannon.jp/otera_list_en ...
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- - - - - Homepage of the temple
- source : kuzukaji.com ...
- reference source : isekannon.jp/english ... -
- reference source : nippon-reijo.jimdofree ... -
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This temple is former Nr. 09 of the pilgrimage
. Ise Saigoku 33 Kannon 伊勢西国三十三所観音巡礼 Pilgrimage .
. Kannon Bosatsu 観音菩薩 Avalokiteshvara .
. Juichimen Kannon 十一面観音 .
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Mount Kuzuka - 414 m
- source : kuzukaji.com/mt-kuzuka ... -
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. Temples with legends .
. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .
. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .
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