Ryouzen-ji Temple

Starting point of Shikoku pilgrimage

Por Yoshifumi Hara

Community writer

Pilgrims praying in Hondo (Main Worship Building)

A lot of lanterns hang from the ceiling of Hondo

Statue of Nio, muscular guardian of the Buddha, stands just inside the gate

San-mon Gate (Niou-mon Gate) is the entrance of the temple

Cleanse your hands first at this purification font

Place a votive candle and incense stick before you begin to worship

You can find statues of the Buddha in the garden

Koubou Daishi (or Kukai), the founder of Shingon Buddhism, experienced training on Shikoku island in his youth, and left a lot of legends in various places. Many people living in Shikoku call him "O-Daishi sama" with respect and familiarity.

The Shikoku pilgrimage" or "O-henro" is a 1200km-long journey to visit 88 temples associated with Koubou Daishi. The year 2014 was the 1200th anniversary of the pilgrimage. It’s been part of the precious culture of Shikoku, and is even familiar to people overseas these days. In fact, we can often see foreigners in traditional costume doing the pilgrimage.

Although there are no strict rules about the order to visit temples, visiting them in their numbered order is the general custom. The first temple is Ryouzen-ji Temple. It’s the starting point of the journey, and therefore, is always crowded with many travelers and pilgrims.