Virtual Old Kamakura 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Hokke-do Temple

 

     Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, enshrined his guardian Buddhist image, the Amitabha statue, in Hokke-do Temple.  After his death on January 13, 1199, his body was buried in the temple, presumably under the temple.  The Buddhist ceremony for the first anniversary of his death was held in the temple.

     On May 2, 1217, when the Wada Family, led by Wada Yoshimori (1147-1213), attacked the palace of Minamoto Sanetomo (1192-1219), the third shogun, Sanetomo escaped to Hokke-do Temple.

     On June 5, 1247, when Miura Yasumura (1184-1247) lost to the Hojo Clan, he and 500 of his family members, relatives, and followers committed suicide in the temple.

     In 1872, the temple was abolished due to the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order of 1868.  The statue of Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, was moved to Raigo-ji Temple nearby.  Whose wished had the chintamani fulfilled?

Address: 2 Chome-5-7 Nishimikado, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0004

Phone: 0467-61-3848