Virtual Kozukue 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in Yokohama #29 Jigan-ji Temple

     It is unknown when Kannon-in Temple was founded.  Its main deity was the statue of Ekadasamukha, who has 11 faces.  They built another hall in the precincts as a main hall with the statue of Acalanatha enshrined as the new main deity.  The temple also changed its name to Jigan-ji.  It is unknown when they converted, let alone why they did.

     Legend has it that the Ekadasamukha statue was carved by Gyoki (668-749) out of the same wood that also provided the timber for the statue of Sahasrabhuja, who has 1,000 arms, in Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto.

     In 778, Priest Kenshin, who was training in Kojima-dera Temple in Nara, got an inspiration in his dream, and visited Mt. Otowa in Kyoto.  He found Priest Gyoei standing under a waterfall and reciting the mantra for Sahasrabhuja.  Gyoei said to Kenshin, “I’ve been waiting for you to come for years.  I’m leaving for the eastern provinces, so please cover for me.”  Kenshin carved a Sahasrabhuja statue out of the divine timber Gyoei left, and put it in an old hermitage Gyoei had lived in.  The hermitage was the start of Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

     Let’s try to make the story more coherent.

Gyoki might have found a divine tree in Mt. Otowa, and could have carved an Ekadasamukha statue out of it, with some timber left.  Gyoei went to Terayama Village, Tsuzuki County, Musashi Province, with the Ekadasamukha statue, put it in a hermitage, which was later called Kannon-in.  Kenshin carved a Sahasrabhuja statue out of the divine timber Gyoki left.  Then, why did Gyoei reciting the mantra for Sahasrabhuja?

     Gyoki might have found a divine tree in Mt. Otowa, and could have carved a Sahasrabhuja statue out of it, with some timber left.  Gyoei went to Terayama Village, Tsuzuki County, Musashi Province, with the leftover timber, carved an Ekadasamukha statue out of it there, and put it in a hermitage, which was later called Kannon-in.  And Kenshin carved a Sahasrabhuja statue out of another piece of the divine timber Gyoki left.  Then, there should be 2 Sahasrabhuja statues in Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

     I’m at the limit of my guess.

     Then, why did they convert the temple?  Some Kozukue-33-Kannon-Pilgrimage member temples used to be hermitages to confine someone.  the villagers around the temples converted the hermitages into temples by inviting new priests.  Jigan-ji Temple might have taken the same course.

     Then who was confined in the hermitage?

     In 780, Sakanoue Tamuramaro (758-811) was chasing a deer in Mt. Otowa, and met Kenshin, who was training.  In 791, Tamuramaro was dispatched to the eastern provinces to prepare for the war against the aliens in the northeastern part of Honshu Island.  In 794, he invaded the region, with the military successes of beheading 457 and taking 150 captive.  During the war, he recognized Vaisravana and Ksitigarbha effective.  It is unknown where he met the two.  In or around the capital?  In the eastern provinces on his way to the northeastern region?  For example, in Musashi Province?  Or in the northeastern region itself?

     In 798, he built Kiyomizu-dera Temple for the Sahasrabhuja statue, put the statues of Vaisravana and Ksitigarbha on sides, and invited Kenshin as the priest.  The two deities on sides of the main deity were supposed to guard the main deity.  In 801, he invaded the northeastern region again.  When Tamuramaro brought back two enemy chiefs, Aterui and More, to the capital in 802, the two were killed against Tamuramaro’s intention to have them keep working as chiefs in the northeastern region in the unified country.  He was given a priest.  Probably to pray for the war dead on both sides.  The death of the two was very effective.  It satisfied the central government.  And yet it didn’t brought about avenging battles.  The two died as if to guard something or somebody else.  

     It might have been Tamuramaro who brought a timber from Mt. Otowa, had a statue carved, and left someone confined in Terayama Village.  Or that somebody could have stayed there willingly to pray for the dead.

     The temple name Jigan literally means loving eyes.  What did the eyes (whose eyes?) actually see with love?

Address: 228 Terayamacho, Midori Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-0013Phone: 045-931-1553