Jingo-ji
{{Short description|Buddhist temple on Mount Takao in Kyoto.}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Jingo-ji
神護寺
| native_name =
| image = Jingoji Kyoto Kyoto15s3s4500.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| alt =
| caption = Godai-dō (left) and Bishamon-dō (right)
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| location = 5 Takao-chō, Ume-ga-hata, Ukyō-ku Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture
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| religious_affiliation = Shingon Buddhism
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| country = Japan
| functional_status =
| website =
| founded_by =
|established=824| year_completed = 1934 (Reconstruction)
}}
File:Jingoji Kyoto Kyoto14s5s4592.jpg
File:Jingoji-Romon-DSC0845.jpg
{{Nihongo|Jingo-ji|神護寺}} is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It stands on Mount Takao to the northwest of the center of the city. The temple adheres to Shingon Buddhism. Its principal image is a statue of Bhaisajyaguru (Yakushi Nyorai), the Buddha of Healing or "Medicine Buddha".
The temple was first established in the year 824, as a merger of two private temples founded earlier by Wake no Kiyomaro. They were the Jingan-ji (神願寺) in Kiyomaro's home province and the Takaosan-ji (高雄山寺).
Treasures
Jingo-ji holds sixteen National Treasures of Japan."Takaosan, Jingoji Buddhist Temple" (leaflet published by Jingo-ji) They include the honzon and other statues. Another treasure is a list written by Kūkai in 812 called the {{nihongo|"Name List of Abhisheka [Initiates]"|灌頂歴名|kanjōrekimyō|}} and displays some of Kukai's talent for calligraphy. This list contains people and deities in 812 who underwent the abhisheka at Takaosan-ji presided by Kūkai.
The Buddhist Sutra "Bimashōkyō", translated by Guṇabhadra, was handed down at the temple. It is "one of the a volume from the Issaikyō (a Buddhist corpus), commonly known as Jingo-ji kyō, the corpus originally consisted of more than 5,400 volumes in total, but only 2,317 still remain as the rest were scattered outside the temple."{{cite web|last=Guṇabhadra, 394-468|title=Buddhist Sutra "Bimashōkyō"|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11846/|work=World Digital Library}}
Buildings
Buildings at Jingo-ji have been destroyed by fire and war. Of the original buildings, only the Daishi-dō survived the Ōnin War; even the present Daishi-dō is of uncertain date. Itakura Katsushige, a daimyō and former Kyoto shoshidai in the Tokugawa shogunate, commissioned a major reconstruction in 1623. Another reconstruction took place in the 1930s with a contribution from Gendō Yamaguchi. Present structures include the following:
- Rōmon (1623)
- Kondō (金堂, 1934), housing the central image of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing.
- Bishamon-dō (1623)
- Godai-dō (五大堂, 1623), housing statues of Fudō Myōō and other wrathful deities.
- Bell tower (1623)
- Daishi-dō (大師堂, date unrecorded)
- Tahōtō (1934)
The temple is located above the {{nihongo|Kiyotaki River|清滝川|kiyotakigawa|}}, and has a special {{nihongo|ceremonial well|閼伽井|akai|}} built on the grounds. Visitors can purchase tiny plates made of clay to throw out from the famous cliffs, the {{nihongo||錦雲渓|kin'unkei|}}, overlooking Kiyotaki River, with the hopes of one's plate hitting the river far below.
Buses from the center of the city arrive at a stop alongside the road. A long set of stairs leads down to the river, and a short bridge leads across it. A similar set of stairs leads up to the gate of the temple.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{nihongo|hyakuji junrei|百寺巡礼|Hundred Temple Pilgrimage}}.
{{Commons category|Jingoji}}
{{Coord|35|3|18.06|N|135|40|15.12|E|region:JP_scale:20000_source:jawiki|display=title}}
{{Buddhist temples in Japan}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Buddhist temples in Kyoto
Category:Important Cultural Properties of Japan