Virtual Buso 48 Kannon Pilgrimage #28 Fukusho-ji Temple

 

     Fukusho-ji Temple is listed as #28 and #29, the deity of its Kannon-do Hall is an Arya Avalokitesvara statue, which is supposed to have been carved sometime in the 11th or 12th century.

     According to the oral history of Fukusho-ji Temple, the Arya Avalokitesvara statue is #29.  The Kannon-do Hall enshrines another Avalokitesvara statue, the 11-faced Ekadasamukha statue, which is said to be the #28 deity of the Buso 48 Kannon Pilgrimage.

     There used to be an Aragayatsu- Kannon-ji Temple in Tabata, Machida City.  The temple’s existence can be traced back to 1779, when influenza raged in Sagami Province.  Priest Chikai made up his mind to sacrifice himself.  He had villagers dig a grave, make a coffin, cover the coffin with Chikai in it, and bury it.  Chikai himself kept striking a gong until his death.  He asked to make an offering of tea after his death.  Since then, till the abolishment of the temple at the beginning of the Meiji Period, villagers offered tea in a chipped teapot.

     In the Edo Period alone, from 1707 to 1868, there were 23 epidemic of influenza.  Most of them started from Nagasaki, which was the only port open to the world, spread eastward, reached Edo, and sometimes spread to countryside.  In 1776, Okoma Flu was prevalent in Edo.

Address: 2524 Oyamamachi, Machida, Tokyo 194-0212

Phone: 042-797-7034