Virtual Akashi 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #17 Kinko-ji Temple

 

     Omi-san Kinko-ji Temple is said to have been founded in 646 by Hodo, who traveled from India through Tang China and the Korean kingdom of Baekje to Japan from the 6th to 7th centuries.  It is unknown whether Hodo was still alive in 646.

     The main deity of the temple, the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha, is said to have been carved by Hodo from a cherry tree floating on the surface of Lake Biwa and is displayed to the public only once every 60 years.  Kinko is another pronunciation of Omi, the province where Lake Biwa was located.

     Kinko-ji Temple was destroyed by fire when Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) besieged Miki Castle in 1579.  The main hall was rebuilt in 1662.

     The temple’s Buddhist tanka poem is:

Ekadasamukha has traveled so far

To the top of Omi-san, or Mount Omi,

Which seems superior to Mount Hira in Omi Province.

     Kinko-ji Temple is also the #26 member temple of the Harima 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.

Address: Kinko-147 Oshibedanicho, Nishi Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2203

Phone: 078-994-0007

Miki Castle Ruins

Address: 5 Uenomarucho, Miki, Hyogo 673-0432

Phone: 0794-82-2000