An'yō-in (Kamakura)

Gionzan An’yō-in Chōraku-ji

An'yō-in, Kamakura. The Main Hall
Basic information
Location Ōmachi 3-1-22, 248-0007 Kamakura
Affiliation Jōdo
Country Japan
Website None
Architectural description
Founder Hōjō Masako
Completed 1225

Gionzan An’yō-in Chōraku-ji (祇園山安養院長楽寺) is a Jōdo shū Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan.[1] Famous for its rhododendrons, it was named after its founder's (great historical figure Hōjō Masako) posthumous name.[1] The main object of worship is Amida Nyorai,[2] but it also enshrines Senju Kannon, Goddess of Mercy. An’yō-in is Number three of the 33 temples of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage circuit.[2]

History

This temple has a complex history and is the result of the fusion of three separate temples called Chōraku-ji, Zendō-ji and Tashiro-ji.[2] It was first opened in 1225 as Chōraku-ji in Hase Sasamegayatsu by Hōjō Masako for her defunct husband Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder of the Kamakura shogunate.[1][2] At the time it was a Ritsu sect temple. After being burned to the ground by Nitta Yoshisada's soldiery in 1333 at the fall of the Kamakura shogunate,[2] it was fused with Zendō-ji, moved to this spot and renamed, but it burned again in 1680.[1][2] It was then once more rebuilt and a Senju Kannon (Thousand-armed Goddess of Mercy) was transferred to it from Tashiro-ji in Hikigayatsu.[1]

Points of interest

Akira Kurosawa's grave in An-yō-in's cemetery

The great Chinese black pine in the garden is over 700 years old.[1] Behind the temple there are two hōkyōintō. The smallest is one of Masako's possible graves. The other is the oldest hōkyōintō in Kamakura and a nationally designated Important Cultural Property.[1] In the temple's small cemetery down the alley in front of the temple's gate rests famous film director Akira Kurosawa.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 An'yō-in
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Japanese Wikipedia
  3. ↑ Ozu Yasujiro

References

Coordinates: 35°18′51″N 139°33′19″E / 35.31417°N 139.55528°E / 35.31417; 139.55528

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anyoin, Kamakura.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.