Yakuō-ji (Minami, Tokushima)

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Main hall
Plan of the temple (see text)

The Yakuō-ji ( Japanese 薬 王 寺 ) with the Go Iōzan (医 王 山) and Muryōjuin (無量 寿 院) in Minami (美 波 町) ( Tokushima Prefecture ) is a temple that belongs to Shingon Buddhism . In the traditional count it is the 23rd temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage route .

history

According to its own tradition, the temple was built by priest Gyōki in 726 at the request of the emperor Shōmu . In 825, priest Kūkai is said to have made a figure of the healing Buddha Yakushi Nyorai to help people in need. Also later, at the request of various emperors, ceremonies to ward off evil are said to have taken place.

In the Tenshō era (1573–1592) donated the Hachisuka , who had taken possession of the area and who were the sovereigns in the Tokugawa period , cult objects and otherwise took care of the temple. When the temple burned down in 1639, the 2nd Prince Tadateru (忠 英; 1611–1652) and the 3rd Prince Mitsutaka (光 隆; 1630–1666) promoted the reconstruction.

In 1898 a fire broke out in the abbey that destroyed almost all buildings. However, the temple was quickly rebuilt. It is still known today as a place of prayer to ward off disaster.

investment

After entering the temple area through the Niō gate (仁王 門; in plan 1), a long flight of stairs follows up, which is called the “men's walkway” (男 坂, Otokozaka). After a bend to the right, climb even higher, now the shorter, partly covered “Frauensteige” (女 坂), until you come to the main level. On this level you have the bell tower to the right (鐘楼, Shōro; 2), ahead you can see the main hall (本 堂, Hondō; 3) and to the left of it the hall dedicated to the temple founder, the Daishidō (大師 堂; 4).

The pagoda [5] above looks like an enlarged treasure pagoda (多 宝塔), but is called "Yugitō" (瑜 祇 塔) due to its details - the four additional tips are most noticeable. It is similar to that on the Kōya-san and was built to mark the 1100th anniversary of the opening of the temple complex there in 1965.

Treasures

One of the temple treasures that can be viewed in the pagoda is a work that comes from the Daikaku-ji in Saga , the "Kuzōzukan" (九 想 図 巻). It contains an imaginative depiction of the dead poet Ono no Komachi .

photos

  • Temple complex

  • Niō Gate

  • Men's walkway

  • Daishidō

  • pagoda

literature

  • Tokushima-ken no rekishi sampo henshu iinkai (Ed.): Yakuō-ji . In: Tokushima-ken no rekishi sampo. Yamakawa Shuppan, 2009. ISBN 978-4-634-24636-2 . Pages 255 and 256.
  • Oguri, Doei: Kukai. Shikoku hachijuhachi kosho no arukikata. Chukei no Bunko, 2011. ISBN 978-4-8061-4067-2 .

Web links

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

Coordinates: 33 ° 43 ′ 56.3 "  N , 134 ° 31 ′ 39.3"  E

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