Imakumano Kannon-ji, Buddhist temple in Higashiyama district, Kyoto, Japan.
Imakumano Kannon-ji is a Shingon temple in the Sennyū-ji precinct in Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. Its main hall, rebuilt in 1712 by Sōsho Sogen, houses a hidden eleven-headed Kannon statue attributed to Kūkai, flanked by a Fudō Myōō attributed to Enchin and a Bishamonten attributed to Unkei. The grounds also contain a three-story stone pagoda, a bell tower, and a tea house named Fukukairyō, given by Empress Dowager Eishō in 1892.
According to temple tradition, Kūkai founded it in 807 after the Kumano deity appeared and gave him a small Kannon image; he carved a larger statue and enshrined the gift inside. Fujiwara no Otsugu and his son Harutsu funded the large-scale construction, completed in 855 as Hōrin-ji. In 1160 Emperor Go-Shirakawa invited the Kumano deities here, gave the temple the mountain name Shin Nachisan, and renamed it Kannon-ji. The main hall was rebuilt in 1712 by Sōjo Sogen after earlier fires.
The temple is the 15th stop on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the 19th on the Rakuyō Sanjūsankasho circuit. Its Kannon is invoked against headaches and migraine, a reputation dating from Emperor Go-Shirakawa's cure. A separate hall, the Boke-fūji Kannon, is the first stop on a Kinki pilgrimage against dementia.
The temple grounds are generally accessible during daylight hours with parking available for both vehicles and tour buses. Wear comfortable shoes as the terrain is hilly with stairs and paths connecting the different buildings throughout the site.
The temple's precinct holds the Imakumano Saigoku Reijō, a group of stone statues representing the 33 sacred sites of the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage. The bell in the bell tower was requisitioned for metal during the Pacific War and returned intact afterwards. A tea room, Fukukairyō, was granted to the temple by Empress Dowager Eishō in 1892.
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