Muryōkō-ji no Obotoke, Bronze Buddha statue at Muryōkō-ji temple in Wakayama, Japan.
Muryōkō-ji no Obotoke is a head-only bronze statue of the Buddha Rushana at Muryōkō-ji in Fukiage, Wakayama. The head measures about 3 metres; if a seated body were added, the figure would stand roughly 13 metres tall. It was cast in 1835 from the copper of the first great Buddha of Daifuku-ji, which burned that year, and was consecrated there in 1840.
The first Buddha, a seated bronze about 5 m tall, was erected at Daifuku-ji during the Kyōhō era (1716–1736). After a fire destroyed it in 1835, the present head was cast from its bronze and consecrated at the same temple on 24 July 1840. Daifuku-ji collapsed in the 1854 Ansei earthquake and was abolished in 1908, after which the head was moved to Muryōkō-ji.
The head is venerated as fulfilling prayers concerning matters "from the neck up", so students preparing for entrance exams come to pray. The temple, Muryōkō-ji in Wakayama's Fukiage district, is the head temple of the former Daifuku-ji, where the statue originally stood.
Muryōkō-ji is at 5-1-35 Fukiage, Wakayama. From JR Wakayama Station (stop 2) or Nankai Wakayamashi Station (stop 2), take a Wakayama bus and get off at Komatsubara Gochōme, then walk about 10 minutes.
The head is about 3 metres tall; if a seated body were added, the complete figure would reach roughly 13 metres. The temple repeatedly considered casting a body but abandoned the plan because of the cost, so only the head was ever made.
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