Seigantoji Temple

A Tendai sect temple in Nachikatsuura Town, Higashimuro County, Wakayama Prefecture. It is called Nachisan. The principal image is Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu (Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu). It is commonly known as Nachi Kannon. It is the first temple of the Thirty-Three Temples of the Western Provinces. According to temple legend, during the reign of Emperor Nintoku, an Indian monk named Ragyo Shonin, who was washed ashore at Kumanoura, experienced the Bodhisattva Kannon at Nachi Falls, built a hermitage on the site of the current main hall, and named it Nyoirin Hall. It was founded by him. During the reign of Empress Suiko (reigned 592-628), the monk Yamato Hijiri Shobutsu retreated to the temple and carved a Nyoirin Kannon statue into a large camellia tree, placing the previous Kannon statue inside it. After that, renowned monks such as En no Gyoja, Saicho, Kukai, Enchin, Eigo, and Hanshun retreated to the temple one after another, and later, with the addition of Naked Priest to the list of Butsutoku's teachers, they became known as the Seven Former Masters of Nachi. Mount Nachi flourished over the years as a training ground for ascetic practices that combined Shinto and Buddhism, and at its peak it is said to have had seven halls and 36 sub-temples. The three Kumano shrines of Hongu (Amida), Shingu (Yakushi) and Nachi (Kannon) are objects of worship for this world and the next, and are known as "the pilgrimage to Kumano" by many pilgrims of all ranks. The Imperial family also deeply reveres them, and in 988 (Eien 2), Emperor Kazan built a hermitage in front of Ninotaki waterfall in the mountains, called Enjoji Temple, and spent three years there. The hall was burned down during the war by Oda Nobunaga, but was rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587 (Tensho 15) as the current main hall (Nyoirin-do, a National Important Cultural Property). The temple was abandoned during the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in the Meiji period, but was rebuilt in 1874 (Meiji 7), and the following year became a branch temple of the Tendai sect's Hieizan Enryaku-ji Temple. The temple is home to many treasures, including a pagoda with an inscription dated 1322 (Genko 2), eight gilt bronze Buddha statues excavated from the Nachisan sutra mound in 1918 (Taisho 7), which have been designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan, as well as a temple bell with an inscription dated 1322 (Genko 4), and a large crocodile bell donated by Hideyoshi.

[Nakayama Kiyota]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

和歌山県東牟婁(ひがしむろ)郡那智勝浦(なちかつうら)町にある天台宗の寺。那智山と号する。本尊は如意輪観世音菩薩(にょいりんかんぜおんぼさつ)。通称那智観音(かんのん)とよばれる。西国(さいごく)三十三所第一番札所。寺伝によれば、仁徳(にんとく)天皇の代、熊野浦に漂着したインド僧裸形上人(らぎょうしょうにん)が那智大滝において観世音菩薩を感得し、現本堂の地に庵(いおり)を結び如意輪堂と称したのを開基とする。推古(すいこ)天皇（在位592～628）の代には大和(やまと)聖生仏(ひじりしょうぶつ)上人が参籠(さんろう)し、玉椿(たまつばき)の大木に如意輪観世音を彫刻して前の観音像を胎内に納めたという。以後、役行者(えんのぎょうじゃ)、最澄、空海、円珍、叡豪(えいごう)、範俊(はんしゅん)らの高僧が相次ぎ参籠し、のちにこの仏徳の師に裸形上人を加えて那智七先徳と称する。那智山は神仏習合の修験(しゅげん)道場として時代とともに隆盛を極め、最盛時に七堂伽藍(がらん)、子院36坊を有したという。本宮（阿弥陀(あみだ)）、新宮（薬師）、那智（観音）の熊野三山は、現世と未来の二世にわたる信仰の対象となり、貴賤(きせん)を問わぬ多くの参詣(さんけい)者により「蟻(あり)の熊野詣(くまのもう)で」といわれた。皇室の尊崇も深く、なかでも花山(かざん)法皇は988年（永延2）、山中の二の滝前に庵をつくり円成(えんじょう)寺と号して3年間参籠した。織田信長の兵火で堂は焼失したが、豊臣(とよとみ)秀吉によって1587年（天正15）再建されたのが現本堂（如意輪堂、国重要文化財）である。明治期の神仏分離で廃寺となるが、1874年（明治7）に復興し、翌年天台宗比叡山延暦(ひえいざんえんりゃく)寺末となる。元亨(げんこう)2年（1322）銘の宝篋印塔(ほうきょういんとう)、1918年（大正7）に那智山経塚から発掘された金銅仏像八体が国重要文化財に指定されるほか、元亨4年銘の梵鐘(ぼんしょう)、秀吉寄進の大鰐口(わにぐち)など多くの寺宝を有する。

［中山清田］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例