Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Shikoku 88, Temple 21, Tairyuji


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Tairyu-ji, which means Great Dragon Temple, is one of the few locations on the pilgrimage that can be historically verified as a location where Kukai visited. He spent 50 days on the mountaintop as a youth performing a ritual with a mantra being repeated 1,000,000 times. A statue of him can be found on a mountaintop below the temple.

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The temple is at 610 meters above sea level and affords some expansive views....... there is now a ropeway to the summit. Looking back, it is possible to see the pagoda from temple 20 rising through the trees on the next mountain.

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Kukai later returned to the site under orders from Emperor Kammu and founded the temple and became its first head priest.

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It is a Shingon temple, and the main deity is Kokuzo, whose mantra Kukai recited.

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