湯殿山神社, Shinto shrine in Japan
Yudonosan-jinja is a Shinto shrine in Ōisawa, Nishikawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on the site of the former Shingon temple Dainichi-ji, also called Dainichi-ji-ato Yudonosan-jinja. Its three enshrined kami are Ōyamatsumi-no-Mikoto, Ōnamuchi-no-Mikoto and Sukunabikona-no-Mikoto. The grounds retain a torii, a Niō gate, a Sannō hall, the worship hall, a Yudonosan stone tablet and a large ginkgo, plus stone bases of the former temple buildings.
Founded as the Shingon temple Daijiji, said in the Myōgakubō documents to have been built by Kūkai in the Tenchō era (824–834). The monk Dōchi revived it in the Ōei era (1394–1428) by cutting the Dōchi-michi pilgrimage road, and in 1538 Shinshin restored it as one of four Yudonosan betsu-ji. In 1868 the separation of Shinto and Buddhism ended its temple status; a 1904 fire left only the Niō gate, Sannō hall and bell tower.
The shrine is deeply connected to Shugendo, a spiritual practice that uses nature for inner growth and reflection. Visitors today can sense this bond between the sacred space and the surrounding mountain landscape.
The shrine stands in Ōisawa, Nishikawa, Yamagata, not near Tsuruoka; access is by road, and the old Dōchi road over the mountain is now impassable. The Dōchi road can be followed by car via the Kuromaku, Nishi-Ishigawa and Mamurogawa-Oguni forest roads. The autumn festival fills the grounds on the second Saturday and Sunday of September.
The shrine's name distinguishes it from other Yudonosan shrines nationwide: it is also called Dainichiji-ato Yudonosan-jinja, after the Shingon temple Dainichiji that stood here until the Meiji-era separation of Buddhism and Shinto. The temple's three main images were transferred to Hoju-ji in Onogawa, Yonezawa; the Jizo statue went to the head of Oisawa village, and the Nakamura Jizo in front of the shrine takes that statue as its main image.
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