Showing posts with label sasaguri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sasaguri. Show all posts

Friday, March 1, 2024

Goto Falls Bato Kannon Temple 70 Sasaguri pilgrimage

 

Temple 70 on the Sasaguri pilgrimage is located in the valley above Narafuchi Dam.


Just above the temple is Goto Falls which was not particularly impressive, at least when I visited.


However, being a waterfall there was an abundance of Fudo Myo statues.


The honzon is a Bato Kannon, a "Horse-head Kannon" and there were also multip Bato Kannon statues.


As with its equivalent temple on Shikoku, this is the only temple on the pilgrimage with a Bato Kannon as a honzon.


According to the legend, a long time ago (probably the Edo era) horses and cattle in the area fell ill and it was discovered that pollution from the Kuroda Clan gunpowder factory had poisoned the river, so  a Bato Kannon statue was erected.


My reason for suggesting Edo period is that the Kuroda were the clan controlling Fukuoka at that time.


Along the path to the waterfall are lots of other statues, not just Bato Kannon and Fudo Myo.


The previous post in this series on day 1 of my walk along the delightful Sasaguri pilgrimage was on the Fudo Myo statues at the previous temple, Jimyoin.


Friday, January 5, 2024

Fudo Myo at Jimyoin Betsuin Temple

 


Regular readers will easily recognize this as a statue of Fudo Myo, far and away the most numerous deity statue featured in my blog.


All these shots come from the Jimyoin Betsuin Temple in the mountains near Sasaguri, Fukuoka.


Along the 88 temple miniature Henro pilgrimage in the area, but not one of the temples of the pilgrimage.


Fudo is the honzon, or main deity of this temple.


I have never come across so many Fudo statues in such a concentrated area anywhere else in Japan as along this pilgrimage.


We visited on our way down the mountain towards the end of our first day walking the pilgrimage


Monday, October 30, 2023

Jimyoin Betsuin Temple

 


The Sasaguri Pilgrimage is a miniature version of the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage known as Ohenro. All the temples on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage are within the limits of Sasaguri, a town in the mountains east of Hakata, Fukuoka, and the whole route covers about 50 kilometers, yet the walking pilgrim passes by numerous other temples that are not part of the pilgrimage.


Jimyoin Betsuin Temple is one such temple, located along a mountain road to the north of Narufuchi Dam. We visited on our way down the mountain late in the afternoon of the 1st day walking the pilgrimage after having already visited more than twenty temples.


A Betsuin is a direct branch temple, and this one seems to be a branch of a Jimyoin Temple near Nanzoin further east. It is unstaffed and there was little information though it does appear to be relatively new.


What is known is that the temple belongs to the Shingon sect and has a Daishi-do, Yakushi-do, and across the road a Kannon-do.


The main hall enshrines the honzon, a Fudo Myo, and I will cover it and the many other Fudo statues in the grounds in the next post.


Photo 3 shows, I believe, an Aizen Myo, and the statues in photo 4 very much look in what seems to be Korean-style.


Photo 5 is probably Bishamonten, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the one most likely found alone without the other three. I'm not sure of the dragon in photo 6, but it looks a lot like Kurikara, the dragon representing the sword of Fudo Myo, except it is usually shown wrapped around a sword.


Photo 7 is the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Gods. Have no idea what photo 8 is although its meaning seems somewhat obvious. Photo 9 is the Nio guardians from the rear looking across the road to the Yakushi-do.


The previous post in this series on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage was on the small  Hagio Amida-do we visited a little higher up the mountain road.


Saturday, August 26, 2023

Hagio Amida-do Temple 47 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 


Hagio is a small farming settlement in a mountain valley above Sasaguri in Fukuoka. It is said that the inhabitants are descended from samurai who hid out here and returned to farming after their lord was defested.


I passed through Hagio on the way up the mountainside on the first day of walking the Sasaguri Pilgrimage. There is a cluster of three pilgrimage temples in the village, 2 of which, Raionji, and Yakushido, I had stopped in at on my way up the mountain.


Now on my way down after visiting the group of temples higher up in the mountains centred around Nomiyama Kannonji, I stopped in at the third, Amida-do.


There was a fire in the village back in 1883 that caused the principle Amida statues to break into three pieces and so it was replaced with a new one, though to the right of it the original is still on view.


A little further downhill and the route branches off this road and heads toward the Narafuchi Dam and Sasaguri.


The previous post in this series on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage was Tenno-in temple 36.

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Tenno-in Temple 36 Sasaguri Pilgrimage

 


Tenno-in, number 36 on the 88 temple Sasaguri Pilgrimage, like its counterpart on Shikoku, Shoryuji Trmple, enshrines Fudo Myoo.


Specifically, the honzon is a Namikiri Fudo, a "wave^cutting" Fudo. According to the legend, on his return journey from China in 806,  the boat Kobo Daishi was in was in danger of being sunk by stormy seas but was saved by prayers to Fudo.


The main Fudo statue in the main hall is "hidden" but, as with most of these Sasaguri temples, numerous Fudo statues can be found around the grounds.


Tenno-in is a sub-temple of Nomiyama Kannonji, a large complex of temples and sub temples including Gokurakuojoin and an unrelated temple Mizuko Monjuin, located high in the mountains to the north of Sasaguri.


Tenno-in has some large buildings, including a guesthouse. It is said that the main hall is the largest main hall of all 88 temples on the pilgrimage. It was built in 1973. The origunal Tenno-in was at Koyasan but had been demolished and inactive since the late 19th century.


Tenno-in has a large Hydrangea Garden and the grounds are planted with lots of Japanese Maple so is ablaze with color in the autumn. It also has a small zen garden and teahouse.


From here the pilgrimage route heads down the mountains following a different route than the one taken on the ascent. The previous post in this series was Gokurakuojoin Temple.


Monday, April 24, 2023

Around Gokurakuojoin at Nomiyama Kannonji

Nomiyama Kannonji


Nomiyama Kannonji is a large complex of temples and shrines high in the mountains above Sasaguri, Fukuoka, that is very popular in its own right but is also on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage. Down below the main site of Kannonji are several large car parks and numerous cafes and restaurants, a clear indication of how popular this remote location is. Across from the car parks are two more areas of sub-temples and shrines, Tennoin, which I will cover later, and Gokurakuojoin the subject of todays post. One structure is the Aizen-do which enshrines Aizen Myo, in the photo above.


Six Jizo Pond actual has 7 statues in it.


Behind the pond, Three Thousand Jizos. One source says these are Mizuko Jizo. Nearby is a whole temple devoted to Mizuko Jizo, Mizuko Temple Monjuin.


The main deity enshrined in Gokurakuojoin is Enma. so-called "King of Hell".


Also pictured here, a small Fudo Myo and a small Thousand-Armed Kannon, also in Gokurakuojoin.


We explored Gokurakuojoin in the afternoon of our first day on the Sasaguri Pilgrimage, and this was the highest point of the walk. From here the route descends down a different road. The previous post in the series was of the Fudo Myo statues at the main area of Kannonji.


Saturday, February 25, 2023

Fudo Myo at Kannonji Temple

 


Waraji, traditional straw sandals, are left as offerings to s statue of Fudo Myoo at Kanniji Temple on the Sasaguri pilgrimage in Fukuoka. They are left as prayers for health feet and for safety on journeys.


Kurikara, the sword held by Fudo Myoo, is often represented with a dragon wrapped around it.


The Fudo Myo statues found at Kannonji were all quite small, and carved, quite crudely, in stone.


The previous post in the series is Nomiyama Kannonji Temple.