Thousand-Armed Kannon

Sacred focus

Buddhism

An'yō-in

Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

An'yō-in is the third station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho — a small Jōdo-shū temple in Kamakura founded as Hōjō Masako's grief-prayer for her husband Minamoto no Yoritomo,...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Fujii-dera

Fujiidera, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Fujii-dera is station 5 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Omuro-ha temple in Osaka dedicated to Senju Kannon. Founded in the early 8th century....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Gyōgan-ji (Kōdō)

Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Gyōgan-ji (Kōdō) is station 19 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism, Miyako Shichifukujin temple in Kyoto dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Hōgon-ji

Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Hogon-ji is station 30 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Buzan-ha, Benzaiten devotion temple in Shiga dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Iyadani-ji

Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Iyadani-ji is one of three reizan — spirit mountains — of Shikoku, places where the souls of the dead are traditionally felt to gather....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Jion-ji

Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Jion-ji is the twelfth station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage, founded by tradition in the early ninth century by Ennin and named for Daji'en-si in Tang Chang'an —...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kannon-ji

Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Kannon-ji sits in a quiet residential street in Tokushima City, where the bell tower gate marks an unexpected threshold from ordinary domestic life into a small sacred...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kannonshō-ji

Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Kannonshō-ji is station 32 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism temple in Shiga dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Katsuō-ji

Minoh, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Katsuō-ji is station 23 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Kōyasan Shingon-shū temple in Osaka dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kirihata-ji

Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Kirihata-ji rises 155 metres above the Yoshino plain on the slope of Mt. Kirihata....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kiyomizu-dera

Katō, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Banshu Kiyomizu-dera is station 25 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism temple in Hyogo dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kokawa-dera

Kinokawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Kokawa-dera is station 3 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism — Tendai-Kokawa-ha, Katsuragi Shugendō tradition temple in Wakayama dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kongōfuku-ji

Tosashimizu, Kochi Prefecture, Japan

Kongōfuku-ji is the thirty-eighth stop on the Shikoku 88, set at the tip of Cape Ashizuri — the southernmost point of Shikoku....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Kumadani-ji

Awa, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Kumadani-ji is Temple 8 of the Shikoku 88, in Awa, Tokushima. The 1687 Niōmon is one of the largest gates on the entire 88-temple route, designated a Tokushima Cultural...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Mangan-ji

Tochigi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Izurusan Mangan-ji, station 17 of the Bandō Kannon pilgrimage, sits in a karst valley north of Tochigi City....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Meiseki-ji

Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Meiseki-ji is the forty-third temple of the Shikoku 88 and one of the few stops not affiliated with Shingon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Mimuroto-ji

Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Mimuroto-ji is station 10 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Honzan Shugen-shū temple in Kyoto dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Minamihokke-ji (Tsubosaka-dera)

Takatori, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Minamihokke-ji (Tsubosaka-dera) is station 6 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism — Tsubosaka temple in Nara dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Mizusawa-dera

Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, Japan

Mizusawa-dera, the sixteenth station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho Kannon pilgrimage, sits on the wooded slopes below Ikaho Onsen....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Negoro-ji

Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Negoro-ji stands at 365 metres on the slopes of Mt. Aomine, deep in the cedar forest of the Goshikidai plateau....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Ōya-ji

Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Ōya-ji, station 19 of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho, sits inside a natural rock-shelter overhang of Ōya tuff in Utsunomiya....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Ryūseki-ji

Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Ryūseki-ji is the nineteenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, a Sōtō Zen temple whose hall sits not on a foundation but on a single mass of conglomerate...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Saidai-ji (Okayama)

Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Saidai-ji Kannon-in opens the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in eastern Okayama. Founded in the eighth century around a Senju Kannon image said to have chosen this spot by...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Saikō-ji

Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Saikō-ji, sixteenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a Shingon Buzan-ha temple whose Senju (Thousand-Armed) Kannon is traditionally attributed to the Nara...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Sanuki Kokubun-ji

Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Temple 80 Sanuki Kokubun-ji in Takamatsu is the working successor to one of the eighth-century kokubunji — the provincial protection-temples ordered by Emperor Shōmu in...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Sefuku-ji

Izumi, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Sefuku-ji is station 4 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism, Katsuragi Shugendō / Mountain ascetic tradition temple in Osaka dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Senyū-ji

Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Senyū-ji crowns Mt. Sakurei south of Imabari, the 58th temple of the Shikoku 88....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Shiromine-ji

Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Shiromine-ji sits at 280 metres on a forested ridge of the Goshikidai plateau in Kagawa, the eighty-first temple of the Shikoku circuit....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Shōbō-ji

Higashimatsuyama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Shōbō-ji on Mount Iwadono, known for thirteen centuries as Iwadono Kannon, began as a single rock-cave hermitage where the shugendō ascetic Itsumi enshrined a Senju Kannon...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Shōhō-ji (Iwama-dera)

Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Shōhō-ji (Iwama-dera) is station 12 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Daigoji-ha temple in Shiga dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Sōji-ji

Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Sōji-ji is station 22 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Kōyasan Shingon-shū temple in Osaka dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Tosa Kokubun-ji

Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture, Japan

Tosa Kokubun-ji holds dual identity: imperial provincial temple of ancient Tosa Province and Temple 29 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Unpen-ji

Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Unpen-ji sits at 927 metres on the ridge between Tokushima and Kagawa, the highest temple of the Shikoku 88 and the gateway to the Nirvana stage of the pilgrimage....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Yashima-ji

Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Yashima-ji crowns the mesa of Yashima, 293 metres above the Seto Inland Sea, and is the eighty-fourth temple of the Shikoku circuit....

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Yokei-ji

Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Yokei-ji crowns Ueterasan, a low hill above the rice plains of Setouchi City. Founded in the eighth century and long affiliated with the Tendai school, the temple holds...

Sacred focus

Buddhism

Yoshimine-dera

Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Yoshimine-dera is station 20 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism temple in Kyoto dedicated to Senju Kannon....