Holy Places and Religious Sites worldwide
Yakushi-ji (薬師寺) is one of the most famous imperial and ancient Buddhist temples in Japan, that was once one of the Seven Great Temples of Nanto, located in Nara. The temple is the headquarters of the Hossō school of Japanese Buddhism. Yakushi-ji is one of the sites that are collectively inscribed as a UNESCO...
Shitennō-ji (Japanese: 四天王寺, Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings) is a Buddhist temple in Ōsaka, Japan. It is also known as Arahaka-ji, Nanba-ji, or Mitsu-ji. The temple is sometimes regarded as the first Buddhist and oldest officially-administered temple in Japan, although the temple complex and buildings have been rebuilt over the centuries, with the...
Heirin-ji (平林寺) is a Rinzai temple of the Myoshin-ji branch located in Niiza city, Saitama prefecture, Japan, a city just outside Tokyo. History The temple was founded in Iwatsuki, Saitama in 1375 by Sekishitsu Zenkyū, who had served as the Abbot of Engaku-ji, Tenryū-ji and Shōfuku-ji. During this period the original temple was destroyed...
Eigen-ji (永源寺) is a Buddhist temple in the Eigenji-Takano neighborhood of the city of Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of one of the 14 autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen History Eigen-ji was founded in 1361 by the famous poet and roshi Jakushitsu Genkō under the sponsorship...
Enryaku-ji (延暦寺, Enryaku-ji) is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana Buddhism to Japan from China. The temple complex has underwent several reconstruction...
Hokke-ji (法華寺, Hokke-ji), is a Buddhist temple in the city of Nara, Japan. Hokke-ji was built by Empress Kōmyō in 745, originally as a nunnery temple on the grounds where her father Fujiwara no Fuhito’s mansion stood. According to records kept by the temple, the initial construction went on until around 782. It once...
Ishiyama-dera (石山寺, “Stony Mountain Temple”) is a Shingon temple in Ōtsu in Japan’s Shiga Prefecture. This temple is the thirteenth of the Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage. History It was constructed around 747 CE, and is said to have been founded by Rōben. The temple contains a number of cultural assets. The temple possesses two fragments...
Hōryū-ji (法隆寺, Temple of the Flourishing Dharma) is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is Hōryū Gakumonji (法隆学問寺), or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple was founded by...
Mii-dera (三井寺,御井寺), formally called Onjō-ji (園城寺), is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is only a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake. The head temple of the Jimon sect of Tendai, it is something...
Kinpusen-ji (金峯山寺, Kinpusen-ji) is the head temple of a branch of the Shugendō religion called Kinpusen-Shugendō in Yoshino district, Nara Prefecture, Japan. According to tradition, it was founded by En no Gyōja, who propagated a form of mountain asceticism drawing from Shinto and Buddhist beliefs. Along with Ōminesan-ji Temple, it is considered the most...
