Jingoji Temple

JAPAN, Kyoto

This temple is located on Mount Koya and belongs to the Shingon school of Japanese Buddhism. It is the 44th of the 49 Medicine Buddha temples of the Yakushi Pilgrimage of southern-central Japan. The exact year of its construction is unknown. It was the family temple of Wake no Kiyomaro during the Heian period (794–1185), and was then known as Takaosanji Temple. It was combined with another temple and relocated here by his son in 824 and given its present name. Shinzei, a disciple of Master Kukai, was the abbot and he strengthened the Shingon school. The temple later went into decline and was revived by Mongaku Shonin. During the Onin War (1467–1477) and the Meiji period (1868–1912), the temple suffered from the persecution of Buddhism, but was subsequently revitalized.
Other than the Great Master Hall built during the Momoyama period (1573–1615), the main structures were rebuilt in 1623 during the Edo period, including the tower gate, bell tower, Wisdom King Hall, Five Great Hall, Vaisravana Hall, Golden Hall, Prabhutaratna Pagoda, Ksitigarbha Hall, and the abbot’s quarters. The Golden Hall has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered in cylindrical tiles. The hall houses a standing statue of the Medicine Buddha. The Great Master Hall, listed in 1902 as an Important Cultural Property, contains a painting of Master Kukai. The hall has a hip-and-gable roof covered with cypress bark. The Prabhutaratna Pagoda was completed in 1935 during the Showa period, and houses the statues of the Five Great Akasagarbha Bodhisattvas.
The temple has a collection of Buddhist treasures from the medieval period, including paintings, sculptures, calligraphy, and a temple bell. The temple bell is regarded as one of the three most famous bells in Japan. It is listed as a National Treasure, together with paintings of the Mandalas of the Two Realms and Sakyamuni Buddha, as well as statues of the Medicine Buddha and Five Great Akasagarbha Bodhisattvas.