- - - Gongen, see below
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Rendaiji 蓮台寺 Rendai-Ji
Yugasan Rendaiji 瑜伽山（ゆがさん）由加山
岡山県倉敷市児島由加2855 - 2855 Kojimayuga, Kurashiki, Okayama
CLICK for more photos !
Together with the shrine Yuga Jinja Hongu 由加神社本宮 they are called Yugasan 由加山, a mountain region with a main peak of about 270 meters in Kurashiki.
It has been a place for mountain ascetics since olden times.
It is situated in the middlee of Kojima peninsula 児島半島 and surrounded by deep forests.
In 733, priest Gyoki began to worship the two statues of Amida Nyorai and Yakushi Nyorai here as "Yuga Daigongen" 瑜伽大権現 . He did so on the request of Emperor 聖武天皇 Shomu Tenno (701 - 756) and build temple Yugaji 瑜伽寺 - 経尾山瑜伽寺摩尼珠院, now Rendai-Ji.
Now Yuga Daigongen is one of the three important GONGEN in Japan.
During the Edo period, the Ikeda daimyo of Okayama province declared it as an important temple to pray in January, March and September and had the main hall and prayer hall built to do so.
During the Meiji period, the division between Buddhism and Shinto brought and end to the syncretism and the Yuga Shrine was built in a new location, now named Hongu 由加神社本宮.
In 1998 the Buddhist and Shinto part of the Mountain was divided again, not even allowing pilgrims to use the same parking space.
Pilgrims who went on to Shikoku to Konpira shrine after Yuga Shrine were called to perform a
"pilgrimage to two shrines" "両参り.
iwakura shinkoo 磐座信仰 rock dwelling place of a deity (Shinto)
sangaku shinkoo 山岳信仰 mountain worship (Buddhism)
. 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu .
(668-749 AD) Gyōki
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Yugasan in Bizen Province
Utagawa Ando Hiroshige, 歌川広重 Brooklyn Museum
The town at the foot of the sacred mountain complex also thrived. Now one speciality served in the tea stalls is "ankoro mochi" あんころ餅 ricecakes .
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ema 絵馬 votive tablets with Rirakkuma リラックマ
- Annual Festivals and Rituals
January 1 おついたち祭 - 新春特別大祈祷会
February 節分招福星まつり Setsubun
October 厄除不動大祭 - in front of the large stone staute of Fudo Myo-O 石仏大不動尊
Autumn 写経奉納会 copying sutras
- Homepage of the temple
- source : yugasan.jp/
Rirakkuma, Rilakkuma リラックマ 御守り Relax Bear
. O-Mamori お守り Talismans from Japan .
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由加山蓮台寺火渡り厄除不動大祭 Hiwatari Fire Walking Ritual
Look at the extensive photo collection fo Norbert Woehnl about the Fire Rituals during the annual Fudo Festival in October:
- source : www.norbertwoehnl.com
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yakuyoke Fudo 厄除け不動 Fudo to ward off evil influence
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The Biggest Fudo Myo-O
The sculpture, including the base and the surrounding flames is almost 8 meters tall.
Fudo himself is exactly 366 centimeters,... one for each day of the year with an extra one to take you into the next year. It was completed and installed in 2006 at the mountain temple of Rendai-Ji in southern Okayama. The statue was carved by Kyoto sculptor Araki Keiun.
In front of the altar was a big wooden hand with a cord attached to it. The cord was made of five threads in the 5 sacred colors and it was connected to 5 colored ribbons ..... held in the left hand of Fudo.
Rendai-Ji is part of a big shrine-temple complex on Mount Yuga. The site was once an important place of pilgrimage as pilgrims heading across the channel to Konpira-San would stop here first. After the Edo Period its popularity faded, though Konpira's didnt. The temple is now number 6 on the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.
- source : http://ojisanjake.blogspot.jp
. Araki Keiun 荒木啓運 Araki Kei-Un .
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- quote
Yugasan Rendaiji - Okayama Japan 2014
I was fortunate . . . to receive Tokudo Ordination as a Shingon Buddhist Priest.
Check out many photos HERE:
- source : facebook.com/theejoker/media
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Three important Gongen in Japan 日本三大権現
Shinto Deities and their Buddhist Counterparts
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Gongen shinkō
Belief in the incarnation of a Buddha or bodhisattva for the sake of bringing salvation to all sentient beings. Terms having the same meaning include gonge and kegen. There also arose the idea, as seen in the honji-suijaku theory , that the kami of Japan are likewise such manifestations or that they are one and the same, and so there were kami who took on the names of avatars. Since the Heian Period, these include: Sōtō-san (Izusan Jinja), Sannō ( Inage Jinja), Kasuga, Kumano-sanjo (Kumano Hayatama Taisha), Gion-sanjo, Atsuta (Atsuta shinkō), and Zaō. There was a particularly strong tendency to use Buddhist names for mountains that were the sites of ascetic practices. In medieval times, the practice of giving shrines the names of avatars spread. In general, it may be said that at the root of the various forms of syncretism, whether the title was applied or not, lay the concept of gongen.
At the same time, however, in Yoshida Shintō, the superiority of the designation Daimyōjin ("great gracious deity") was advocated from the standpoint of Shintō supremacy, and the bestowal of that name was actively pursued. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, he became Toyokuni Daimyōjin; when, on the other hand, Tokugawa Ieyasu died, the Buddhist priest Tenkai argued from the standpoint of Sannō Shintō for the gongen name. As a result, Ieyasu took on the shingō of Tōshō Daigongen ("Great Avatar, Illuminator of the East").
With the separation of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) by the Meiji government, gongen were abolished, and shrines came to be called jinja.
- source : Yonei Teruyoshi, Kokugakuin 2006
Shichisha Gongen 七社権現 Gongen Deities from Seven Shrines
伊豆権現 Izu Gongen、箱根権現 Hakone Gongen、日光権現 Nikko Gongen、蔵王権現 Zao Gongen
白山権現 Hakusan Gongen、熊野権現 Kumano Gongen and 山王権現 Sanno Gongen.
賑岡町岩殿160 - Nigioka village, Iwadono, Otsuki, Yamanashi
- source : otsuki-kanko.info -
. shichinin misaki 七人ミサキ "Misaki of seven people" .
a legend from Ehime, 温泉郡 Onsen district 重信町 Shigenobu
Once a family of seven went hunting for hawks, (which was forbidden), and even ate the hawk. They were executed by chopping off their heads. Later if people walk by that ground, they will soon encounter some misfortune. The souls of the seven are now venerated at a small Hokora sanctuary as
Shichisha Gongen 七社権現 The Gongen Deities from Seven Shrines .
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- Homppage of the shrine Yuga Jinja 由加神社本宮
- source : yugasan.or.jp
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. Iwakura matsuri 岩倉祭 "festival of the rock cave" .
kigo for late autumn
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. Pilgrimages to Fudo Temples 不動明王巡礼
Fudo Myo-O Junrei - Fudo Pilgrims - INTRODUCTION .
. Japan - Shrines and Temples - ABC .
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