Bando Thirty-three Temples

There are 33 Kannon temples in the Kanto region. Because it is not easy to make the pilgrimage to the 33 temples of the Western Provinces from this region, they were designated as the Eight Provinces of Bando in the early Kamakura period to facilitate religious worship. They are distributed as follows: 8 in Sagami, 6 in Musashi, 3 in Kazusa, 3 in Shimousa, 2 in Kozuke, 4 in Shimotsuke, 6 in Hitachi, and 1 in Awa.

The Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo's faith in Kannon is well known, and it is said that this was one of the reasons that Kannon sacred sites were established in this region. In the Kamakura period, many pilgrims were Yoritomo and other samurai, but in the Edo period, pilgrimages by ordinary people became more popular, and in addition to the Thirty-three Temples of Bando, pilgrimages to the Thirty-three Temples of Chichibu (actually thirty-four) and the Thirty-three Temples of the Saigoku region, totaling 100 temples, began to be made.

The route of the temples starts at the first temple, Sugimoto-ji, in Kamakura, Sagami Province, and passes through Musashi, Kozuke, Shimotsuke, Hitachi, Shimousa, and Kazusa before reaching the 33rd temple, Nako-ji, in Awa. The most famous of these temples are the 4th temple, Hasedera (Kamakura), the 13th temple, Senso-ji (Tokyo), and the 18th temple, Chuzen-ji (Nikko). The principal image of Hasedera in Kamakura, the Eleven-Headed Kannon Bodhisattva, is a huge wooden statue said to be made of the same wood as the one at Hasedera in Nara.

The principal image of Sensoji Temple, the Sho Kannon Bodhisattva, is known as the Asakusa Kannon, and is said to have been caught in a fishing net by the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Takenari while fishing in the Miyato River in 628 (the 36th year of the reign of Empress Suiko). The principal image of Chuzenji Temple, the Eleven-Headed Thousand-Armed Kannon Bodhisattva, is also known as the Tachiki Kannon, as it is said to have been hastily carved by the Nara period monk Shodo Shonin into a standing Katsura tree in the form of the Thousand-Armed Kannon that appeared on the surface of Lake Chuzenji.

[Toshiaki Hirai]

"The Bando Kannon Sacred Places Record" by Takahisa Shimizutani (1972, Kinseido)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

関東地方にある33か所の観音(かんのん)霊場。当地方から西国(さいごく)三十三所を巡拝するのは容易でないため、鎌倉時代の初期に、信仰の便宜を図って坂東八か国に選定されたもの。その分布は、相模(さがみ)8、武蔵(むさし)6、上総(かずさ)3、下総(しもうさ)3、上野(こうずけ)2、下野(しもつけ)4、常陸(ひたち)6、安房(あわ)1である。

　将軍源頼朝(よりとも)の観音信仰は有名で、これが当地方に観音霊場が設けられるに至った一助ともいわれる。鎌倉時代には頼朝はじめ武士の参詣(さんけい)者が多かったが、江戸時代になると庶民の巡礼が盛んとなり、坂東三十三所に加えて、秩父(ちちぶ)三十三所（実際は三十四所）および西国三十三所を巡る百か所詣(まい)りも行われるようになった。

　札所の順路は、相模国鎌倉の第一番杉本寺に始まり、武蔵、上野、下野、常陸、下総、上総を経て安房の第33番那古(なこ)寺に至る。なかでも有名なのは第四番の長谷寺(はせでら)（鎌倉）、第13番の浅草寺(せんそうじ)（東京）、第18番の中禅寺（日光）である。鎌倉長谷寺の本尊十一面観世音菩薩(かんぜおんぼさつ)は奈良の長谷寺と同木異体であると伝える巨大な木像である。

　浅草寺の本尊聖(しょう)観世音菩薩は浅草(あさくさ)観音として知られ、628年（推古天皇36）に檜前浜成(ひのくまはまなり)・竹成兄弟が宮戸川で漁労中、網にかかったものといわれる。中禅寺の本尊十一面千手(せんじゅ)観世音菩薩は、奈良時代の僧勝道上人(しょうにん)が中禅寺湖の湖上に現れた千手観音の姿を立ち木のままの桂(かつら)の木に急いで彫ったものという縁起をもち、立木(たちき)観音とよばれる。

［平井俊榮］

『清水谷孝尚著『坂東観音霊場記』（1972・金声堂）』

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