Butsuryū-ji

Butsuryū-ji (仏隆寺 or 佛隆寺) is a ninth-century Shingon temple in Uda, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is located approximately four kilometres southwest of Murō-ji across Mount Murō.[1]

Butsuryū-ji
仏隆寺
Heian-period stone chamber at Butsuryū-ji (ICP)
Religion
AffiliationShingon (Murō-ji branch)
DeityJūichimen Kannon
Location
Location1684 Haibara Akabane, Uda, Nara Prefecture
CountryJapan
Geographic coordinates34°30′55″N 136°0′35″E
Architecture
FounderKenne
Completed850

History

According to an official letter dated to 946, Butsuryū-ji was founded in 850 by Kenne (堅恵), disciple of Kukai, under the patronage of Okitsugu; upon Kenne's death, Shinsei and Kanshin succeeded him.[1] An inscription on the temple bell of 863 similarly celebrates the temple's foundation by Kenne.[1] Only a fragment of the bell now survives, preserved at the temple; the inscription is known from copies, including a fourteenth-century version now housed at Kanazawa Bunko.[1] A Map of Mount Murō (宀一山図) in the same collection, dating to 1314, locates Kenne's grave at the temple; it is generally identified with Butsuryū-ji's unusual stone chamber with pyramidal roof.[1] Although the present buildings are more recent, a statue of Kenne still stands beside those of Kukai and Jūichimen Kannon on the altar.[1]

Since both Butsuryū-ji and Murō-ji could be referred to as Mount Murō, it appears that the two were sometimes confused or conflated: an early eighteenth-century encyclopaedia refers to the former as Nyonin Kōya or "Kōyasan for Women", an appellation usually reserved for the latter, referring to the ban on female visitation, relaxed in 1872.[2] A stone marker on the road to Butsuryū-ji still proclaims "Mount Murō Nyonin Kōya".[2]

Cultural Properties

There is also a thirteen-storey stone tō dating to 1330 and dedicated to Shũen, important figure in the early history of Murō-ji.[1]

See also

References
  1. Fowler, Sherry D. (2005). Murō-ji: Rearranging Art and History at a Japanese Buddhist Temple. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 55–59, 224–7. ISBN 0-8248-2792-9.
  2. Fowler, Sherry D. (2005). Murō-ji: Rearranging Art and History at a Japanese Buddhist Temple. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 66–74. ISBN 0-8248-2792-9.
  3. 佛隆寺石室 [Butsuryūji Stone Chamber] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  4. 国指定文化財 [Nationally-designated Cultural Properties] (in Japanese). Uda City. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  5. "Yamanobe-no-Michi, Hase and Murou Area". Nara Prefecture. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  6. 県指定文化財 [Prefecturally-designated Cultural Properties] (in Japanese). Uda City. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  7. 奈良県指定文化財一覧 [List of Prefecturally designated Cultural Properties (Nara Prefecture)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Nara Prefecture. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
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