Walking from Hase-dera towards Kōtoku-in, a Buddhist temple, renowned for its "Great Buddha" (Daibutsu), a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha, one of the most famous icons of Japan.
And from there we walked to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
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The statue is approximately 13.35 mtr tall including the base, weighs approximately 93 tons. It is hollow, and visitors can view the interior. At one time, there were thirty-two bronze lotus petals at the base of the statue, but only four remain, and they are no longer in place. A notice at the entrance to the grounds reads,
"Stranger, whosoever thou art and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou interest this sanctuary remember thou tread-iest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages. This is the Temple of Buddha and the gate of the eternal, and should therefore be entered with reverence."
Dates back from 1252, preceded by a giant wooden Buddha,
which was completed in 1243 after ten years of continuous labor. The wooden
statue was damaged by a storm in 1248, and the hall containing it was destroyed
too, so another statue of bronze was suggested to be made. At one time, the
statue was gilded. There are still traces of gold leaf near the statue's ears.
The hall was destroyed by a storm in 1334, was rebuilt,
and was damaged by yet another storm in 1369, and was rebuilt yet again. The
last building housing the statue was washed away in the tsunami of September
20, 1498. Since then, the Great Buddha has stood in the open air.
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distractions along the way... fun ones!!
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Torii of the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu...
Tsurugaoka Hachimangū is the most important Shinto shrine
in the city of Kamakura. The shrine is at the geographical and cultural center
of the city of Kamakura, which has largely grown around it and its 1.8 km
approach. It is the venue of many of its most important festivals, and hosts
two museums. This shrine was originally built in 1063 as a branch of Iwashimizu
Shrine in Zaimokuza where tiny Moto Hachiman now stands and dedicated to the
Emperor Ōjin, (deified with the name Hachiman, tutelary kami of warriors), his
mother Empress Jingu and his wife Hime-gami. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder
of the Kamakura shogunate, moved it to its present location in 1191 and invited
Hachiman to reside in the new location to protect his government.
Every now and then, everyone love's a story or a scandal that comes with a place. This one is of the historical events the shrine is tied to--the assassination of Sanetomo, last of Minamoto no Yoritomo's sons. Under heavy snow on the evening of February 12, 1219 shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo was coming down from Tsurugaoka Hachimangū's Senior Shrine after assisting to a ceremony celebrating his nomination to Udaijin. His nephew Kugyō, son of second shogun Minamoto no Yoriie, came out from next to the stone stairway of the shrine, then suddenly attacked and assassinated him in the hope to become shogun himself. The killer is often described as hiding behind the giant ginkgo, but no contemporary text mentions the tree, and this detail is likely an Edo era invention first appeared in Tokugawa Mitsukuni's Shinpen Kamakurashi. For his act Kugyō was himself beheaded a few hours later, thus bringing the Seiwa Genji line of the Minamoto clan and their rule in Kamakura to a sudden end.
Behind me is the Maiden, where there are music performance every now and then...
Sake Barrels at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū
thank you all for stopping by and viewing the post...
xxx
