Kimpusen-ji

Kinpusen-ji
金峯山寺
Kinpusen-ji; 金峯山寺
	"Zaō-Hall" (Zaōdō), a National Treasure
Religion
Affiliation	Kinpusen-Shugendō
Deity	Zaō gongen (蔵王権現)
Location
Location	2498 Mount Yoshino, Yoshino, Yoshino district, Nara Prefecture
Country	Japan
Architecture
Founder	En no Gyōja
Completed	Second half of 7th century
Website
	http://www.kinpusen.or.jp/; In Japanese

Kinpusen-ji (金峯山寺, Kinpusen-ji) is the head temple of a branch of the Shugendō religion called Kinpusen-Shugendō in Yoshino district, Nara Prefecture, Japan. According to tradition, it was founded by En no Gyōja, who propagated a form of mountain asceticism drawing from Shinto and Buddhist beliefs. Along with Ōminesan-ji Temple, it is considered the most important temple in Shugendō.^[1]

The temple's main building, the "Zaō-Hall" (Zaōdō) dedicated to Zaō gongen (蔵王権現), is the second largest wooden structure in Japan after the Great Buddha Hall at Tōdai-ji in Nara. Kinpusen-ji is a junction in a series of stops on pilgrimage routes.

A Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari Ōkami is attached to the main compound. In 1963, the Temple constructed a hall named Southern Court Mystic Law Hall (Nanchō Myōhōden) to appease the soul of the four emperors of the Southern Court and others who lost their lives in many battles since the "Northern and Southern Courts period" (Nanboku-chō period, 1336–1392). The principal image is the statue of Gautama Buddha (Shaka Nyōrai).

In 2004, it was designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

Images

Gate with guardians
Statue of the wrath-filled and muscular guardian Nio
Zaōdō (Deity: Zaō gongen, "Avatar Zaō")
entrance of Zaōdō
one of the three Zaō-gongen statues in the Zaōdō
carvings
Bell tower (Shorō)
Aizendō (deity: Aizen myōō, Sanskr. Rāgarāja)
Kannondō (deity: Kannon bosatsu, "Bodhisattva Guanyin")
Itoku Tenmangu
Attached Inari shrine (Deity: Hisatomi Daimyōjin)
Inari shrine
Nanchō myōhō-den
Statue of En no Gyōja near the Nanchō myōhō-den

References

^ "About World Heritage Site Yoshino and Ōmine". Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.