Kokawadera

和歌山県

Third station of the Saigoku pilgrimage, founded 770 — grand Edo-period halls rebuilt after Hideyoshi's fire

Founded

770

Type

Temple

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和歌山県紀の川市粉河2787

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Info

Temple

Founded 770

1256 years

Enshrined Deity

千手千眼観世音菩薩

Buddhist Sect

粉河観音宗

Overview

Head temple of the Kokawa Kannon sect and 3rd site of the Saigoku pilgrimage, founded in 770. Enshrining Senju Kanzeon Bosatsu with a garden designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty. Most halls were burned in Hideyoshi's Negoro campaign of 1585, then rebuilt under Kishu Tokugawa patronage. The grand scale of the halls — among the largest of the Saigoku sites — commands reverence from all who v…

Origins

According to tradition, Kokawadera was founded in 770 (the first year of Hoki) by Otomo Koshiko, who, while hunting, witnessed a mysterious divine light and built a hermitage on the site. The temple serves as the head temple of the Kokawa Kannon sect and is the third sacred site on the Saigoku Thirt…

Pilgrimage Circuit

A pilgrimage of 33 Kannon temples — the oldest Kannon circuit in Japan, winding through 6 prefectures in the Kinki region and Gifu

Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage

Principal Buddha

Senju Kannon

千

About Senju Kannon

Wooden seated Thousand-Armed Kannon by Tankei (Sanjūsangendō, Kyoto, National Treasure, Kamakura period)

Senju Kannon (Thousand-Armed Kannon): rescues all beings through a thousand methods, with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. Usually represented with 42 arms standing for the full thousand — an expression of boundless compassion.

Kannon Forms · Seven Kannon

聖

Shō

十

Jūichimen

千

Senju

如

Nyoirin

馬

Batō

准