Pilgrimage - Henro

Japanese: 遍路 - へんろ

Pilgrimage to sacred sites such as Buddhist temples by following a set route. Particularly well-known pilgrimages include the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, which is said to be the site of Kobo Daishi's training, and the Saigoku Pilgrimage, which visits the 33 Kannon temples in the Saigoku region. Its origins are thought to be influenced by Chinese Buddhism, and its original form can be traced back to the zudagyo practice that arose in the middle of the Heian period. Pilgrims wear sedge hats, carry oizuru on their backs, and hold a kongo staff and bells, visiting sacred sites, offering sutras, attaching pilgrim tags to the ceilings and pillars of sacred sites, and having treasure seals and sutra seals stamped on their white robes. It is customary to ask for gratitude from houses along the route at least once or twice a day during the pilgrimage. In later times, various sects came up with their own systems of sacred sites, such as the Jodo sect's pilgrimage to 25 temples, the Jodo Shinshu sect's pilgrimage to 24 peaks, and the Nichiren sect's pilgrimage to 21 temples, and the popularity of pilgrimages increased even further.At the same time, a leisure element emerged in addition to the religious element.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

一定の順路に従い仏寺などの霊場を参詣して回ること。弘法大師の修行の跡とされる四国八十八ヵ所の巡礼，西国三十三所の観音を回る西国巡礼などが特に知られる。起源は中国仏教の影響によるものと考えられ，平安時代の中葉に起った頭陀行 (ずだぎょう) にその初めの形を求めることができる。巡礼者は，菅笠をかぶり，笈摺 (おいずる) を背負い金剛杖と鈴を手にして霊場を回り，納経したり巡礼札を霊場の天井や柱に貼ったり，宝印，納経印をその白衣に押してもらう。巡礼の途中，1日に少くとも1度か2度は沿道の家に報謝を求めるのがならわしである。後世になって，浄土宗の二十五ヵ寺詣で，浄土真宗の二十四峰巡拝，日蓮宗の二十一ヵ寺詣でなど，宗派ごとに霊場の組織が次々に考え出され，遍路の流行は一層著しくなったが，これとともに信仰的要素とは別に，遊楽的要素を生じることになった。

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