Virtual Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #26 Kochi-ji Temple

 

     Any member temple of any 33 Kannon Pilgrimage has one of the 6 types of Avalokitesvara as its membership deity: 

1) Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of the other 6 metamorphoses

2) Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha

3) Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja

4) Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six,

5) Horse-Headed Hayagriva

6) Cundi, who has 16 arms and appears to be female

7) Amoghapasha, who usually has 3 eyes and 8 arms

     Didn't I say 6 types?  The Shingon Sect Buddhists assert that the last one should be Cundi, while the Tiantai Sect Buddhists maintain that it should be Amoghapasha.  They all believe that Arya Avalokitesvara can metamorphose into 5, and that they can carve 6 types of Avalokitesvara statues in total.

     The first Amoghapasha statue made in Japan is supposed to be the one in Todai-ji Temple.  The statue is supposed to have been enshrined in 733, and, that is, could have been made a little bit earlier.  If the one in Kochi-ji Temple had been made by Prince Shotoku (574-622) as the temple tradition suggests, we would have to rewrite Japanese Buddhism history.  Anyway, Kanzeon-ji Temple was founded on an unknown date, and was renamed Kochi-ji in 1673.

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