Kokawa-dera
The Kokawa-dera ( Japanese 粉 河 寺 ) is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kinokawa , Wakayama prefecture in Japan . The Kokawa-dera is the main temple of the Tendai-shu -Kokawa belief. The main portrait of the temple is a statue of the thousand-armed Kannon . The Kokawa-dera is the third temple of the Saigoku pilgrimage route ( 西 国 三十 三 箇 所 , Saigoku sanjūsankasho ).
overview
The earliest historical mention of Kokawa-dera comes from the year 1054. According to the founding legend described in the scroll Kokawadera engi, the temple is said to have been founded as early as 770 by the hunter Otomo no Kujiko. Thanks to donations from nobles and the imperial family, the temple grew so that around 500 monks lived on the site in the 16th century.
Temple documents report fires on the temple grounds in 935, 1394, 1460 and 1467. In 1585 the temple was sacked by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops . Further fires are known for the years 1616 and 1713.
The present main hall was rebuilt in 1720 at the instigation of Tokugawa Yoshimune . The imposing temple gate Daimon is also dated to the beginning of the 18th century. It is classified as a major cultural asset of Wakayama Prefecture. The side temple Dōnan-do was built in 1679. In it a statue of the boy is venerated, who is said to have created the main portrait of the temple.
At the entrance to the main temple there is a rock garden from the Momoyama period with a mixture of stone and rocks in the Kare-san-sui style.
The Kokawadera engi ( 粉 河 寺 縁 起 ) scroll is a rare example of illustrated scrolls ( emaki ) from the Kamakura period and depicts a number of scenes from everyday life. It is classified as the national cultural treasure of Japan .
literature
- Patricia Frame Rugola: The Saikoku Kannon Pilgrimage Route . Dissertation, Ohio State University, 1986.
- Valeria Jana Schwanitz and August Wierling: Saigoku. On the way in Japan's western lands . Manpuku-Verlag, Potsdam 2012.
Web links
- Official Website - Japanese
Coordinates: 34 ° 16 ′ 51.5 ″ N , 135 ° 24 ′ 21.3 ″ E