Anraku-ji, Buddhist temple in Kamiita, Japan
Anraku-ji is a Kōyasan Shingon-shū temple in Kamiita, Tokushima Prefecture, temple 6 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Its main hall has a broad grey tiled roof, dark wood above and a deep red facade with gold trim, and a green-patinated copper roof over the entrance. The bell tower gate is a white-walled Ryūgū-mon with a red balcony above its arched opening, and a garden with a pond and tahōtō lies inside.
According to temple tradition, Kūkai founded the temple in 815 at Anraku-ji-dani, about 2 km from the present site, carving the Yakushi Nyōrai image himself. It was destroyed by Chōsokabe Motochika's troops during the Tenshō era (1573–1592). In the Manji era (1658–1661) it was rebuilt here by merging with the ekiro-ji temple Zuiun-ji.
Anraku-ji is the sixth of the 88 temples on the Shikoku Pilgrimage. Pilgrims in white hakui robes chant the goeika hymn at the main hall: "In this fleeting world, stop fighting over domains; seek the protection of the Land of Ease." The temple's name itself, Anraku, means that Land of Ease.
Anraku-ji lies about 8.5 km from JR Itano Station and 6.9 km from Ushijima Station; the nearest bus stop, Higashibara on the Kajiwarabara line, is 0.6 km away. The site is 0.1 km from Route 139 and 3.4 km from the Dosan interchange. Parking holds 50 cars and 10 buses, free of charge.
The shukubo accommodates up to 250 guests, and its hot spring, once dried up, began flowing again in front of the Daishi-dō around 2000. The water is a radium mineral bath. Overnight guests can take part in the "kusu-kuyō" rite in the Shōryō-den and Kanjō-kutsu, a practice the temple asks them not to discuss with others.
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