#44 （45th Temple）

Iwaya-ji
岩屋寺

Crypto Ohenro #44 Goshuin of Iwaya-ji（岩屋寺）
  • Title: Iwaya-ji（岩屋寺）
  • Temple No: 45
  • Principal Image: Fudō Myōō（不動明王）
  • Price: 0.005ETH
  • Edition: 1/1
  • Additional Information: 

    After several hours climbing to the top of a mountain ridge (if you choose the trail and not the road) you are greeted with spectacular views. You then drop down through a thick forest into the back of the temple and are greeted by a huge rock face with the temple nestled at its base.

    Legend states that the temple was donated to Kōbō Daishi by a mysterious female recluse named Hokke-Sennin. Was she a shamaness or just a woman well advanced in Buddhist training? Kōbō Daishi carved two statues of Fudō, one in stone and kept in a cave at the rear of the temple, and the other in wood and enshrined in the hondō.

    By keeping the stone statue in the cave, Kōbō Daishi ensured that the entire mountain needed to be worshipped in order to worship the statue. This way the mountain remained sacred, just as it had been in Shintōism. Over time, every nook and cranny of the mountain became sacred and every rock and slope became part of the sacred object.

    This temple is one of the nansho of Ehime Prefecture and is one of the sites where mountain recluses and wandering holy men once performed their religious disciplines. Be sure to see the surface of the cliff above the temple.

    The mountain is famous as the dwelling place of seven kinds of sacred birds. Frederick Starr states that in ancient times this temple was the Okunoin of Temple 44.

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ABOUT STORY

The 45th temple is Iwaya-ji (Iwaya-ji).

The distance from the previous temple (46th) is 24.2km.

 

The entrance to Iwaya-ji. Iwaya-ji is located at an altitude of 700m and is very popular with foreigners as well as Japanese.

There are many worshipers.

 

The road leading to the temple is a long uphill, and there are souvenir shops.

 

A stone statue of Kobo Daishi is built in the countless Jizo.

 

Red and blue flags are erected on the side of the road, which seems to support the climbing of worshipers.

 

This is the main hall of Iwaya-ji. Fudō Myōō is enshrined.

Many pilgrims calm their breath and chant sutras here after a long climb.

 

Next to the main hall, there is a ladder leading to the quay, and by climbing it you can go to “Iwaya”, a place where many monks have been practicing in a basket for a long time.

 

If you pull it out, you can see that it is a temple built next to a large rock.

 

There were many other pilgrims when chanting sutras at the hall with an enshrined statue of Kobo Daishi.

I pray for family security and world peace, but what are they praying for?

 

Iwaya-ji is a space where not only the temple but also the road along the way is very mysterious. You can see why it is so popular.

 

Just walking in the mountains will make you feel relaxed and have the same effect as meditation.

 

NFT – Crypto Ohenro #44 Goshuin of Iwaya-ji（岩屋寺） –

NFT - Crypto Ohenro #44 Goshuin of Iwaya-ji（岩屋寺） -

The red stamp of Iwaya-ji, the 45th temple.

With this, I went around 1/2 of the temples. I have to go around 44 more temples.

The distance to the next temple is 8.4km.

 

Crypto Ohenro #44 Goshuin of Iwaya-ji（岩屋寺）


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