Choonzan Taiko-ji Temple

Location: Futamicho-E, Ise City

Buddhist sect: Daigo Branch of the Shingon Sect

Principal object of worship: Seated statue of Senju Kannon Bosatsu (Designated as an Important Tangible Cultural Property)

　Height of the statue: 176 cm (crafted in the Kamakura period (1185–1333))

 

History:

According to legend, this temple was founded by the Buddhist monk Gyoki sometime between 729 and 749. Its fundraising document (kanjincho) created in 1635 (designated as a Municipal Tangible Cultural Property) states that its Kannondo, a hall enshrining a statue of the Buddhist deity Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokiteśvara), was constructed sometime between 901 and 923. Ise Daijingu Sankeiki (literally, The Diary of a Pilgrimage to Ise Jingu) written by the doctor and renga poet named Saka Jubutsu in 1342 describes how the temple was falling into a decline those days.

 

The temple was completely destroyed by lightning in 1686, but was restored in 1703.

 

The seated statue of Senju Kannon Bosatsu (Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara), the temple’s principal object of worship, is crafted from Japanese torreya using the traditional wood jointing technique and features 42 arms. It is said that its head even houses a small statue of Kannon Bosatsu representing the Shinto deity Okitama-no-Kami. 

 

Additionally, the temple also enshrines some other sacred objects, such as the statue of Sei Kannon Bosatsu (Sacred Avalokiteśvara) crafted in the Muromachi period (1336–1573).

 

The small Shinto shrine on the temple’s grounds is dedicated to the deity Okitama-no-Kami. In front of the Main Hall of the temple, there is a stone water basin made from the base of a Buddhist pagoda called hokyointo constructed in the Kamakura period (1185–1333).

 

On the hill behind the temple, there is also a memorial stone built in 1572, which is inscribed with the Sanskrit words symbolizing the Amida Triad centered around the Buddhist deity Amida Nyorai (Amitābha) and designated as a Municipal Tangible Cultural Property. Within the grounds of the temple, wisteria and hydrangeas bloom beautifully in their respective seasons, delighting visitors to the temple.

 

March 2013

　Ise City Board of Education

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