After being forced to take Buddhist vows at the age of nineteen in 986 (Kanna 2), Cloistered Emperor Kazan (968–1008) undertook the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage himself and is honored as the 'restorer of the Saigoku 33 Pilgrimage.' When he revived this pilgrimage circuit, Mii-dera Kannondo was designated the fourteenth temple. Mii-dera (Onjo-ji), head temple of the Tendai Jimon school, was a place of deep personal devotion for Kazan, and a memorial hall (Kazan-in) to the cloistered emperor is said to have been located on Mt. Nagara within the temple precinct. Kazan's revival of the western pilgrimage became the impetus for spreading Kannon devotion widely among the common people, laying the foundation for the Saigoku 33 Pilgrimage that continues to this day after more than a millennium.