Affiliation Kimpusen-Shugendō Country Japan Founder En no Gyōja | Deity Zaō gongen (蔵王権現) Phone +81 746-32-8371 | |
 | ||
Location 2498 Mount Yoshino, Yoshino, Yoshino district, Nara Prefecture Completed Second half of 7th century Address 2498 Yoshinoyama, Yoshino, Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture 639-3115, Japan Similar Yoshino Mountain, Kinpusenji Zaodo, Yoshimizu Shrine, Yoshino Mikumari Shrine, Kinpu Shrine | ||
Kinpusenji temple
Kimpusen-ji (金峯山寺, Kinpusen-ji) is the head temple of a branch of the Shugendō religion called Kimpusen-Shugendō in Yoshino district, Nara Prefecture, Japan. According to tradition, it was founded by En no Gyōja, who propagated a form of mountain asceticism drawing from Shinto and Buddhist beliefs.
Contents
The temple's main building, the "Zaō-Hall" (Zaōdō) dedicated to Zaō gongen (蔵王権現), is the second largest wooden structure in Japan after the Great Buddha Hall at Tōdai-ji in Nara. Kimpusen-ji is a junction in a series of stops on pilgrimage routes.
A Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari Ōkami is attached to the main compound. In 1963, the Temple constructed a hall named Southern Court Mystic Law Hall (Nanchō Myōhōden) to appease the soul of the four emperors of the Southern Court and others who lost their lives in many battles since the "Northern and Southern Courts period" (Nanboku-chō period, 1336-1392). The principal image is the statue of Gautama Buddha (Shaka Nyōrai).
In 2004, it was designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.