Bandō Sanjūsankasho
The Bandō Sanjūsankasho ( Japanese 坂 東 三十 三 箇 所 ) is a pilgrimage that is dedicated to the deity Kannon and includes 33 Buddhist temples . Loosely translated it means "The 33 temples of the Kanto region".
The pilgrimage
The pilgrimage begins at Sugimoto-dera Temple in Kamakura , Kanagawa Prefecture and ends after 1300 km at Nago-ji Temple in Tateyama , Chiba Prefecture . The pilgrimage consists of visiting 33 temples dedicated to the deity Kannon. In the Lotus Sutra , Kannon appears in 33 different manifestations. However, the statues of the temples do not show all of these manifestations. The most common are the 11-headed Kannon and the 1000-armed Kannon.
The Bandō pilgrimage probably originated in the 13th or 14th century. The beginning of the pilgrimage routes goes back to Minamoto no Yoritomo and his son Sanetomo .
Visiting the 33 temples is considered a great devotion to Buddhism. Visiting the temples in a fixed order is meant to save you from hell and give you eternal life. It was originally only intended for men. Nowadays women are allowed to walk too. They make up the majority of all pilgrims today. The pilgrimage route has also now been fully commercialized. The temples earn part of their income.
When they visit, pilgrims leave a piece of paper or a small sticker as proof of their visit. You can see these stickers on wooden pillars and walls in many temples. In addition, a pilgrim book is kept in which a stamp is entered for each temple . When the pilgrim book is completely stamped, the pilgrimage is complete.
There are mini-pilgrimage routes for pilgrims who cannot take the pilgrimage route due to time or health reasons; for example on the Ishiyama-dera site. Here you will find 33 images of the individual pilgrimage stations. After visiting all 33 images, the pilgrimage is considered completed.
List of 33 temples
| No. | temple | Kanji | Main portrait ( honzon ) | place | prefecture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sugimoto-dera | 杉 本寺 | 11-person Kannon | Kamakura | Kanagawa |
| 2 | Hokai-ji | 宝 戒 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Zushi | Kanagawa |
| 3 | An'yō-in | 安 養 院 | 1000-armed Kannon | Kamakura | Kanagawa |
| 4th | Hare-dera | 長 谷 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Kamakura | Kanagawa |
| 5 | Shofuku-ji | 勝 福寺 | 11-person Kannon | Odawara | Kanagawa |
| 6th | Chokoku-ji | 長 谷 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Atsugi | Kanagawa |
| 7th | Kōmyō-ji | 光明 寺 | Shōkannon | Hiratsuka | Kanagawa |
| 8th | Shokoku-ji | 星 谷 寺 | Shōkannon | Zama | Kanagawa |
| 9 | Jikō-ji | 慈光 寺 | 11-headed, 1000-armed, 1000-eyed Kannon | Tokigawa , Hiki-gun | Saitama |
| 10 | Shobō-ji | 正法 寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Higashimatsuyama | Saitama |
| 11 | Anraku-ji | 安 楽 寺 | Shōkannon | Yoshimi | Saitama |
| 12 | Jion-ji | 慈恩 寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Iwatsuki-ku , Saitama | Saitama |
| 13 | Sensō-ji | 浅 草 寺 | Shōkannon | Taitō ( Tokyo ) | Tokyo |
| 14th | Gumyō-ji | 弘 明 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Minami-ku, Yokohama | Kanagawa |
| 15th | Chokoku-ji | 長 谷 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Takasaki | Gunma |
| 16 | Mizusawa-dera | 水 澤 寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Shibukawa | Gunma |
| 17th | Manganese-ji | 満 願 寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Tochigi | Tochigi |
| 18th | Chūzen-ji | 中 禅寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Nikko | Tochigi |
| 19th | Ōya-ji | 大谷 寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Utsunomiya | Tochigi |
| 20th | Saimyō-ji | 西明 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Mashiko , Haga-gun | Tochigi |
| 21st | Nichirin-ji | 日 輪 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Daigo , Kuji-gun | Ibaraki |
| 22nd | Satake-ji | 佐 竹 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Hitachi-Ōta | Ibaraki |
| 23 | Shofuku-ji | 正 福寺 | 11-headed, 1000-armed, 1000-eyed Kannon | Kasama | Ibaraki |
| 24 | Rakuhō-ji | 楽 法 寺 | Enmei Kannon | Sakuragawa | Ibaraki |
| 25th | Ōmi-dō | 大 御堂 | 11-person Kannon | Tsukuba | Ibaraki |
| 26th | Kiyotaki-ji | 清 瀧 寺 | Shōkannon | Tsuchiura | Ibaraki |
| 27 | Empuku-ji | 圓 福寺 | 11-person Kannon | Chōshi | Chiba |
| 28 | Ryushō-in | 龍 正 院 | 11-person Kannon | Narita | Chiba |
| 29 | Chiba-dera | 千葉 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Chūō-ku , Chiba | Chiba |
| 30th | Kōzō-ji | 高 蔵 寺 | Shōkannon | Kisarazu | Chiba |
| 31 | Kasamori-ji | 笠 森 寺 | 11-person Kannon | Chonan , Chosei-gun | Chiba |
| 32 | Kiyomizu-dera | 清水寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Isumi | Chiba |
| 33 | Nago-ji | 那 古寺 | 1000-armed Kannon | Tateyama | Chiba |
Other pilgrimage routes
The Bandō Sanjūsankasho is one of over 70 different pilgrimage routes dedicated to Kannon. Two other well-known trails are the Saigoku Sanjūsansho (33 temples) in the Kansai region and the Chichibu Sanjūyonkasho in the Chichibu region (34 temples).
Origin of the number 33
One theory says that the number 33 refers to the Buddhist mythology of Mount Meru (in Japanese: Shumisen, 須弥 山 ). On the mountain and in the mountains surrounding it live 33 gods who protect the world. Eight gods for each of the four cardinal points and the main god Taishakuten , whose palace Zenkenjō ( 善 見 城 ) stands on the summit of Mount Shumisen.
Remarks
- ↑ Bandō is the old name for Kantō. The region includes the prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Tokyo, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba.
- ↑ There is a different list of 33 temples on the website , see discussion page .
