Kiyomizu-dera, Tendai temple in Setakamachi Motoyoshi, Miyama, Japan
Kiyomizu-dera is a Tendai temple on Mount Motoyoshi in Miyama, Fukuoka, with the honorary name Motoyoshizan and the cloister name Fumon-in. Its main hall enshrines a thousand-armed Kannon statue attributed to Saichō, and the Amida Hall stands to its left. The temple grounds also hold a three-story pagoda, a Niō gate with two 2.4-metre guardian figures, and a garden said to be by Sesshū.
According to temple tradition, Saichō founded Kiyomizu-dera in 806 after returning from Tang China, guided by a pheasant to nemu trees from which he carved two Kannon statues, enshrining one here and one at Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera. The sanmon gate was built in 1745 under Yanagawa domain lord Tachibana Sadanori, and the three-story pagoda was completed in 1836, modeled on Shitennō-ji's five-story pagoda in Osaka.
The main image, a thousand-armed Kannon said to have been carved by Saichō, draws prayers for easy childbirth, conception and matchmaking. On the night of 8–9 August a large goma fire ritual is held, and worshippers who visit then are said to gain the merit of 46,000 days of pilgrimage. The hall's left side holds the Amida Hall.
The temple stands on Mount Kiyomizu in the Motoyoshi area of Setaka, Miyama. By train, take the JR Kyushu Kagoshima Main Line to Setaka Station, then a taxi for about 13 minutes; by car it is roughly 3.5 km from the Miyama-Yanagawa Interchange on the Kyushu Expressway. The approach is uphill, so allow time for the climb.
The three-story pagoda began in 1822 under carpenter Sōkichihei as a planned five-story tower modeled on Shitennō-ji's pagoda in Osaka. After the master died, his disciples finished it in 1836, reducing it to three stories over about 14 years. The 1984 rebuilding stands on that site.
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