Virtual Quasi-Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Enkokku-ji Temple

 

     According to oral tradition of Enkoku-ji Temple, Emperor Montoku (827-858) was worrying over the illness of the Empress and who should be the heir to throne.  Ennin (794-864) presented the holy water of Takada Village, Musashi Province.  The emperor soon had the water used in a rite.  The water was poured over the heads of the 3 princes.  The drips over the head of the third prince radiated rays.  The Empress was promptly healed, and the Emperor chose the third the heir, who later became Emperor Seiwa (850-881).  The Emperor ordered to build a temple where the water welled out, and named it Enkoku-ji.

     The Empress was Fujiwara Akirakeiko (829-900), who might have been depressed, worrying whether her child could become an emperor, going over the heads of 2 elder brothers, Princes Koretaka and Koreeda, who were born of Ki Shizuko (?-866).  It is not surprising the Empress was cured to know her child was chosen as the heir.

     Shizuko gave birth to 2 boys and 3 girls, while Akirakeiko a boy and a girl.  Neither the seniority nor the numerical value didn’t matter.

     The Ki Clan used to be powerful in Ancient Japan, but was getting overpowered by the Fujiwara Clan at the time.  The Fujiwara Clan then had Fuyutsugu (775-826), Akirakeiko’s grandparent, a talented and magnanimous, gentle and calm politician.  He was able in both literary and military arts, and had a flexible viewpoint with generous attitude with others.

     When Ennin visited Takada Village again by order of the Emperor, he met a white-haired old man, who said, “Make it with a Cherry tree!”  Ennin carved  1 Buddha and 2 Bodhisattva out of the cherry tree, and built a temple, Enkoku-ji Temple.  In 1649, the temple was officially approved as a temple.

     Raising horses was a big business in the area, and the statue of Hayagriva, who has the head of a horse, was enshrined in the temple at the turn of the 18th century.  As the business grew, more people visited the temple to pray to it.  It has replaced the Bhaisajyaguru statue as the main deity.  What had happened to the Buddha and Bodhisattva statues Ennin had carved?

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