Hōzan-ji

Hōzan-ji (宝山寺ほうざんじ Hōzan-ji) is a Buddhist temple in Monzen-machi, Ikoma, Nara, Japan.

Hōzan-ji 宝山寺ほうざんじ
Main hall (right) and grounds
Religion
Affiliation	Shingon Ritsu
Deity	Fudō Myō-ō (Acala)
Status	Head temple
Location
Location	1-1 Monzen-chō, Ikoma, Nara Prefecture 630-0266
Country	Japan
Geographic coordinates	34°41′4.8″N 135°41′11.6″E
Architecture
Founder	Tankai
Completed	1678
Website
http://www.hozanji.com/ (Japanese)

Hall for Kangiten (Shoten)

Though officially dedicated to the deity Acala (Fudō Myōō), the temple serves as a cult-center of the deity Kangiten (Shoten) and is also called 'Ikoma-Shōten' (生駒いこま聖きよし天てん).

History

The area around Hōzan-ji was originally a place for the training of Buddhist monks. The name of the place at that time was Daishō-Mudō-ji (大聖たいせい無動寺むどうじ).

Mount Ikoma was originally an object of worship for the ancient people in the region, and so this area was selected as a place for religious training. The training area is said to have opened in 655 by En no Gyōja. Many Buddhist monks, including Kūkai (空海くうかい), are said to have trained in here.

Hozan-ji started when Tankai (湛たたえ海うみ) re-opened this training area in the 17th century. Tankai set up a statue of Kangiten (Shoten) at this place in 1678, the official year Hozan-ji was established.

In the Edo period, this temple was one of the most popular Buddhist temples in this region.

Cultural properties

This temple has Important Cultural Properties selected by the Japanese government.

• Shishi-Kaku Building (獅子しし閣かく)
• Five statues of Zushiiri-Mokuzo-Godai-Myōō (厨子ずし入にゅう木造もくぞう五ご大だい明王みょうおう像ぞう)
• Kenpon-Chosyoku-Kasuga-Mandara-zu (絹本けんぽん著ちょ色しょく春日かすが曼荼羅まんだら図ず)
• Kenpon-Choshoku-Aizen-Myōō (絹本けんぽん著ちょ色しょく愛染明王あいぜんみょうおう像ぞう)
• Kenpon-Choshoku-Miroku-Bosatsu (絹本けんぽん著ちょ色しょく弥勒菩薩みろくぼさつ像ぞう)
• Five volumes of No-hon, written by Zeami (世阿弥ぜあみ能のう本ほん)

Access

• Hōzanji Station of Ikoma Cable Line
• Umeyashiki Station of Ikoma Cable Line

Gallery

• 
• 
  Ucchusma
• 
  Rāgarāja
• 
  Maitreya

See also

• Thirteen Buddhist Sites of Yamato

External links

• Media related to Hozanji at Wikimedia Commons