Ryūsen-ji, Buddhist temple in Dorogawa Onsen, Tenkawa, Japan.
Ryūsen-ji stands as a traditional Buddhist temple complex featuring wooden architecture, stone pathways, and reflective ponds surrounded by forested mountains in Nara Prefecture's Yoshino region.
Founded around 645 AD by En no Gyōja, the legendary ascetic and founder of Shugendo, this temple has served as a spiritual center for mountain practitioners for over thirteen centuries.
The temple preserves ancient Shugendo practices including waterfall meditation rituals and serves as part of the Kinki Thirty-six Fudoson Sacred Ground pilgrimage route for Buddhist devotees.
Visitors can reach the temple by taking a bus from Kintetsu Shimoichiguchi Station to Dorogawa Onsen, with the temple open daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM year-round.
Legend tells of a white snake deity who entrusted her child to a local man before disappearing into the temple pond, inspiring the ritual bell ringing performed three times each morning.
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