Zenkyoan is one of Kenninji's sub-temples, a Rinzai Kenninji-ha temple nationally known as the 'Marishiten Hall' enshrining Marishiten. Marishiten is a goddess of Indian mythological origin, said to be the deification of heat haze, and is believed to grant blessings of self-protection, victory, and business prosperity. Because wild boars are regarded as her divine attendants, boar statues are plac…

Zenkyoan was founded in 1319 as a sub-temple of Kenninji by the Chinese Rinzai Zen master Seisetsu Shocho, who had traveled to Japan from Yuan-dynasty China. The temple's origins lie in the enshrining of a Marishiten statue that the master brought with him from China, and it has been venerated as th…