Tsubosaka Temple

This temple is located in Tsubosaka, Takatori-cho, Takaichi-gun, Nara Prefecture. Its correct name is Minami Hokkeji Temple, and it belongs to the Buzan school of the Shingon sect. The principal image is the Eleven-Headed Thousand-Armed Kannon. It is the sixth temple on the pilgrimage to the Thirty-Three Temples of the Western Provinces, and is commonly known as Tsubosaka Kannon. There are various theories about its founding, including one that it was founded by the monk Benki of Gangoji Temple during the Yoro era (717-724), as well as another that it was founded by Doki and Nun Zenshin. It was originally a Hosso sect temple, but became a Shingon sect temple after Shinko came from Kofuku-ji Temple in the 10th century and taught the Tsubosaka school of Jiso. During the Edo period, the temple's landholding was 45 koku. The principal image of the temple has long been known for its miraculous powers in treating eye ailments, and this power has been widely spread through the story of Osato Sawaichi in the "Tsubosaka Miracle Chronicle." The three-story pagoda and the Raido hall, built during the Muromachi period, are designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan. Other buildings include the Amida Hall and the Inaba Hall (Kannon Hall), and in the mountains behind the temple are a group of 500 stone Buddha statues of arhat. The temple's treasures, a colored silk mandala with a golden wheel and a phoenix motif, are also designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan. There are also facilities for the visually impaired within the temple grounds, such as a nursing home for the blind and a Braille library.

[Akiko Sobue]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

奈良県高市(たかいち)郡高取(たかとり)町壺坂にある寺。正しくは壺阪山南法華寺(みなみほっけじ)といい、真言(しんごん)宗豊山(ぶざん)派に属する。本尊は十一面千手観音(せんじゅかんのん)。西国(さいごく)三十三所第六番札所で、俗に壺阪観音ともいう。創建については諸説あり、養老(ようろう)年間（717～724）に元興(がんごう)寺の僧弁基を開基とする説のほか、道基、尼善心の開創説もある。もとは法相(ほっそう)宗であったが、10世紀ころ興福寺より真興(しんこう)がきて壺坂流の事相(じそう)を教導してから真言宗になった。江戸時代の寺領は四十五石。本尊は古くから眼病に霊験(れいげん)あらたかなことで知られ、『壺坂霊験記』のお里・沢市(さわいち)の話によって広く伝えられた。室町時代建立の三重塔、礼堂(らいどう)は国の重要文化財。ほかに阿弥陀(あみだ)堂、因幡(いなば)堂（観音堂）などがあり、裏の山中には五百羅漢(らかん)の石仏群がある。寺宝の絹本着色一字金輪曼荼羅(こんりんまんだら)、鳳凰文甎(ほうおうもんせん)は国の重要文化財。なお、境内には盲人養老施設、点字図書館など目の不自由な人のための諸施設がある。

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