Virtual Okitama 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #8 Kannon-ji Temple

 

     Priest Anchin enshrined Thousand-Armed Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha or Eleven-Faced Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja sometime between 806 and 810.  Mysteriously, many shrines and temples were founded in the North-Eastern Region in the 800's.  Most of them exaggerate their histories by assuming their founders to be historic religious leaders, but this temple has passed down an unknown name.

     Kannon-ji Temple was founded in 1164 by Nagaoka Masakatsu, whose Buddhist name was Yusei, to enshrine the statue.  He is also historically obscure.  The statue was burned in fire.  Its legs were lost and its surface was carbonized.  Its hall was rebuilt in the Warring States Period, and is the oldest building in Yamagata Prefecture.  The statue is hidden from public view, and its exhibition copy was made in the Edo Period.

Address: 3072 Miyama, Shirataka, Nishiokitama District, Yamagata 992-0776

Phone: 0238-85-3063