Kurikara Fudoji Temple

This is a special head temple of the Koyasan Shingon school of Buddhism. According to tradition, the temple was founded in 718 when the eminent Indian monk Śubhakarasiṃha, who had traveled to Japan at the request of Empress Gensho, carved and enshrined an image of Kurikara Fudo Myoo. The name Kurikara, a Sanskrit term meaning “an image of Fudo with a black dragon coiled around a sword,” comes from the temple’s principal image. The principal image now enshrined in the Okunoin is unveiled once every seven years, when a major Buddhist service is held. Kobo Daishi is also said to have enshrined an image of Fudo here in 812. This attendant image is now housed in the main hall.

The grounds surrounding the mountaintop main hall are dotted with structures including the Fudoji Main Hall, Okunoin, Five-Story Pagoda, and Wako Tower. The two staffs near the Okunoin are known as staffs for warding off misfortune. It is said that swinging them downward three times while chanting “Namu Dainichi Daisho Fudo Myoo” will clear away hardships from the path ahead. The grounds also contain the ruins of Chorakuji Temple, four of the Thirty-Three Kannon statues relocated from along the Kurikara Pass, and Oman Jizo, known from the Legend of Oman.

Phoenix Hall, meanwhile, was built in 1998 as part of an effort to restore the former complex of seven temple buildings and 12 temples believed to have been founded by Kobo Daishi. Measuring 75 m across, this magnificent wooden structure incorporates the shinden-zukuri architectural style of the Heian period and has a stately, graceful atmosphere.