Kanimanji Temple - Kanimanji

This temple is located in Kabata, Yamashiro-cho, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture. It is called Fumonzan and also Kamuhataji. It belongs to the Chisan school of Shingon Buddhism. According to temple legend, it was founded by an immigrant named Hatawaka before the Nara period, but the exact date is unknown. One day, a girl with deep faith in Kannon took pity on a crab caught by some village children, so she took it and released it into the mountains and rivers. Later, when the girl was in trouble after being proposed to by a snake, the crab killed the snake and repaid the kindness. So the many crabs that died in place of the girl and the snake's body were buried, and a hall was built on top of it to enshrine a statue of Kannon, which is why the temple came to be called Kanimanji Temple. The current principal image enshrined in the main hall is the Shaka Nyorai (national treasure), a gilt bronze seated statue made during the Hakuho period, and is an imposing 2.7m tall statue. The Shokannon (both sacred objects of mercy) statue enshrined in the Kannon Hall is a gilded wooden seated statue made in the late Heian period. Sources relating to the origins of Kanimanji Temple include the Hokke Genki, Konjaku Monogatari, Genko Shakusho, Wakan Sansai Zue, and Miyako Meisho Zue.

[Masahiro Nomura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

京都府木津川(きづがわ)市山城町綺田(やましろちょうかばた)にある寺。普門山(ふもんざん)と号し、紙幡寺(かむはたじ)とも称する。真言宗智山(ちさん)派に属する。寺伝によると、奈良時代以前、渡来人秦和賀(はたわか)の創建と伝えるが不詳。あるとき、観音信仰の深い娘が、村の子供らにとらえられた蟹を哀れに思い、もらい受けて山川に放してやった。のち娘が蛇に求婚されて困っているとき蟹が蛇を殺し、その恩に報いた。そこで娘の身代りとなって死んだ多くの蟹と、蛇のなきがらを葬り、その上に御堂を建てて観音像を祀(まつ)ったとの縁起により、蟹満寺と称するに至ったという。本堂に安置されている現本尊の釈迦如来(しゃかにょらい)像（国宝）は白鳳(はくほう)時代の作で、金銅坐像(ざぞう)、8尺8寸（約2.7メートル）の堂々たる尊像。観音堂に安置されている聖観音(しょうかんのん)像は木像金塗りの坐像で、平安後期の作。蟹満寺縁起に関する資料として、『法華験記(ほっけげんき)』『今昔(こんじゃく)物語』『元亨釈書(げんこうしゃくしょ)』『和漢三才図会(わかんさんさいずえ)』『都名所図会』などがある。

［野村全宏］

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