Kōon-ji (Saijō)

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Great sacred hall
Plan of the temple (see text)

The Kōon-ji ( Japanese 香 園 寺 ) with the Go Sendansan (栴檀 山) and Kyōōin (教 王 院) is a temple of the Shingon direction of Buddhism in the city of Saijō ( Ehime prefecture ). In the traditional count it is the 61st temple on the Shikoku pilgrimage route .

history

The Kōon-ji is said to have been founded by Prince Shōtoku , at the latest at the beginning of the 7th century. This makes it one of the oldest temples on Shikoku . According to tradition, Shōtoku, son of the emperor Yōmei , built this temple to free his father from illness. When the temple was founded, Shōtoku is said to have appeared as an old man in a golden robe, whereupon Dainichi Nyorai (大 日 如 来) was determined to be the main cult figure.

When priest Kūkai visited the temple in the 9th century , he met a woman in front of the temple who was struggling to give birth. Kūkai took a branch from the fragrant cedar tree and waved it in prayer for her, after which a happy birth ensued. The temple flourished as a place of pilgrimage for expectant mothers, but was destroyed with all of its buildings and the six Klausen during the armed conflict towards the end of the 16th century.

It was not until 1903, in late Meiji , that Priest Zuien (瑞 円) began to rebuild the temple complex, which was continued in the Taishō period . The first main hall was built in 1914, and since 1918 lectures have been given to educate people about an easy birth (子 安 講; Koyasu-kō), not only in Japan, but also in Southeast Asia and America.

The attachment

The temple now has a very modern main building that combines the conventional main hall (本 堂, Hondō; 1) with the hall in memory of the temple's founder, the Daishidō (大師 度; 2), under one roof. It was built in 1951 as the "Great Sacred Hall" (大 聖堂, Daiseidō) made of reinforced concrete with a height of 16 m. The ground floor is occupied by the "Great Classroom" (大 講堂, Daikōdō), the first floor is shared by the main hall, which has more than 620 chairs, and the Daishido.

Other buildings are the bell tower (鐘楼, Shōrō; 3), the pavilion for Prince Shōtoku (聖 徳 殿; 4), the pavilion for the holy helper at birth (子 安 大師 堂, Koyasudaishidō; 5) and the Honjidō (本地 堂; 6 ).

photos

  • Bell tower

  • Shotoku Pavilion

  • Pavilion for the obstetrician

  • Flowering cedar tree

literature

  • Ehime-ken kotogakko chireki komin bukai rekishi bukai (Ed.): Kōon-ji . In: Ehime-ken no rekishi sampo. Yamakawa Shuppan, 2008. ISBN 978-4-634-24638-6 . Page 115.
  • Oguri, Doei: Kukai. Shikoku hachijuhachi kosho no arukikata. Chukei no Bunko, 2011. ISBN 978-4-8061-4067-2 .

Web links

Commons : Kōon-ji  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 33 ° 53 '36.7 "  N , 133 ° 6' 11.9"  E

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