Natadera, founded in 717 by the monk Taicho, fell into decline before Retired Emperor Kazan (968–1008, 65th Emperor) is said to have revived it as a sacred site during his pilgrimage circuit of the Saigoku Thirty-Three Kannon temples. According to tradition, the retired emperor renamed the temple 'Natadera' by combining one character from Nachi (1st site) and Okadera (7th site) — the two temple names at the beginning and near the start of the Saigoku route — thereby establishing its identity as a Kannon sacred place. Emperor Kazan had been forced to abdicate and enter holy orders in 986 (Kannna 2) through the machinations of the Fujiwara (the Kannna Incident), and he spent over thirty years in ascetic practice and pilgrimage, earning the title 'Reviver of the Saigoku Thirty-Three Pilgrimage.' The name 'Natadera' and its continuing veneration as a Kannon sacred site are direct legacies of Emperor Kazan's patronage.