Anyone can come and light a candle or burn incense,” she says. “Shingon is an open religion, you don’t have to be religious to visit Koya-san – many visitors aren’t. However, as Takimoto-san (a nun at the Konpon Daito) explained, anyone can enter. The statue is shielded by four guardian statues and 16 painted columns that together form a three-dimensional metaphysical map of the cosmos. Inside, worshippers who visit purify themselves by rubbing a musty, clove-heavy incense onto their hands and pray before a bronze statue of Dainichi Nyorai (the central object of devotion in Esoteric Buddhism). However, arguably the most striking component here is the Konpon Daito, a 47m, two-tiered pagoda. Among the more interesting points here is the pine tree in the Danjo Garan’s courtyard where Kukai’s flying sanko is said to have landed. Today, it’s one of Koya-san’s main stops for worshipers and tourists, even though most buildings here are relatively modern reconstructions. (Credit: Stuart Black/Alamy)Īfter the Daimon, the next stop for pilgrims on the old trail would have been the Danjo Garan, the core complex of a dozen-or-so buildings that Kukai and his followers first built in Koya-san. And more than 1,200 years after Kukai (posthumously known as Kobo Daishi) first ventured into Koya-san’s secluded slopes, his spirit is believed to reside here in eternal meditation. Of the 117 temples scattered throughout Koya-san, some 50 of which serve as () inns where guests can spend the night, meditate and commune with monks. In the Japanese religion of Shintoism, forests and rocks can be inhabited by the spirits of gods (kami) and every element of nature is considered divine. This 307km network of moss-covered stones and earthen trails, which connect the () to Koya-san, attracts roughly 15 million visitors a year and reflects the ancient Japanese belief of worshipping nature. Today, Koya-san is part of the sacred pilgrimage routes known as the (), whose towering cedar and cypress forests, crashing waterfalls and temple-studded peaks appear to be suspended among the clouds in certain places.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |