Zenko Ji: Buddhist Temple of Japan

Zenko Ji is one of the Buddhist temple located in Nagano Japan. The temple houses the Antique Buddha statue of Amitabha Buddha. It is recorded that the temple was founded before the division of Buddhism into various sects. In the present period, the temple is taken care by Tendai and Jodoshu schools of Buddhism. They both have been managing the temple. From the Tendai school of Buddhism, there are twenty-five priests while fourteen priests are from the Jodoshu schools of Buddhism.

Historical account of Zenko ji Buddhist temple

It has been documented that the main Buddha statue of Zenko Ji was crafted in India and was transferred to Japan through the Korean peninsula during the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the 6th century. In Japan also the main statue have been transferred to different places due to several reasons and lastly the main statues was settled in the present location in the Nagano city. The Buddha statue had been moved to Kyoto in the 1598 CE and then to Shinano. Then after the main Buddha statue was moved to the Nagano.

It has also been recorded that many other temples have copied Zenko JI's main Buddha statue and build a temple housing the new copied Buddha statue. This kind of behavior was mainly seen at the end of the Kamakura period.

Features of Zenko Ji Temple

Buddha statues at the Main Temple Hall

Due to the several reasons, the main Buddha statue of Amitabha Buddha has been hidden and is not shown to anyone including the chief priest of the temple. Therefore a replica of the statue, called Maedachi Honzon, has been created with the motive to showcase the statue to the public once in six years in a ceremony called Gokaicho.

Apart from the Buddha statues, the temple also contains the statue of Binzuru. He was a physician and the Buddha's follower. It is believed that by touching the statue, the patients having ailments will be cured.

Inner prayer chamber

The Zenko Ji temple contains an inner prayer chamber. The high priest or priestess holds a daily morning ritual in this chamber which is also accessible to the visitors. From this chamber, a narrow staircase leads down to a completely dark corridor. The corridor is equipped with the metal key hanging on the wall. The worshippers visited here tries to touch this key in order to gain enlightenment. The key has symbolically represented the key to the Western Paradise of the Amitabha Buddha.

The temple compound

The Zenko Ji temple compound includes many interesting and historically significant buildings. These buildings are arranged in the linear style from south to north. The buildings organized from south to north are:

Daihongan which is immediately on the left from the southern entrance. This building is used by the followers of Jodo sects as the nunnery and the residence of the high priestess.

Right after Daihongan, there is the Niomon gate with two impressive Nio guardians.

Towards the left of the Niomon gate, there is the Main Hall which houses Buddha statues.

After the main hall, there is Daikanjin which is used by the followers of Tendai Sect as the residence of the chief priest.

Right to the Daikanjin, the statues of six Bodhisattvas are placed. These statues are also called Rokujzo. It is believed that Rokujzo gave up the Buddhist enlightenment in order to provide salvation to others.

After Rokujzo, there is the Sanmon Gate which contains wooden Buddha statues. These statues are not open to view by the public.

The Kyozo is located on the far left from the Sanmon Gate. This building houses a repository of printed Buddhist sutras. It is believed that by circulating the octagonal sutra holder placed in the Kyozo, the prayer will likely to gain the enlightenment.

The incense burner, Zenko JI Hon do is placed in front of the temple, Zenko Ji. The visitors after veneration to the Buddha places the incense in this incense burner. They also rub the incense smoke on their bodies for good health and fortune. Generally, visitors tends to by the incense from nearby buddha shop.