Virtual North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #31 Saiko-ji Temple

 

     Nandikesvara is said to have been enshrined in 658 by En Ozuno (634-701), who was the founder of Shugendo, the Japanese mountain asceticism which contained the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism.  Sometime between 729 and 749, its shrine temple was founded.  It was called Jingu-ji.  In the middle of the 17th century, the danka system was established by the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Under the system, the shogunate made the affiliation with an official Buddhist temple compulsory to all citizens.  Shugendo or the Japanese mountain asceticism was not regarded as a school or a sect of the official Buddhism by the shogunate.  Under the Meiji Restoration Government, Shugendo was not regarded as a part of Shinto.  After the Meiji Restoration Government issued the Gods and Buddhas Separation Order in 1868, the temple was renamed Saiko-ji.

     In Japan, Nandikesvara is believed to have been reformed by Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha.  Accordingly, Saiko-ji Temple also enshrines the Ekadasamukha statue, which is the #31 deity of the North Settsu 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: 2 Chome-5-27 Minoo, Minoh, Osaka 562-0001

Phone: 072-721-3190