Country Japan Phone +81 736-56-2011 | Completed 816 Founder Kūkai | |
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Location 132 Kōyasan, Kōya-chō, Ito-gun, Wakayama Prefecture Affiliation Kōyasan School of Shingon Buddhism Deity Ashuku Nyorai (Akṣobhya) Address 132 Koyasan, Koya, Ito District, Wakayama Prefecture 648-0294, Japan Similar Mount Kōya, Okunoin, Danjōgaran, Koyasan Reihokan Museum, Kōyasan Station | ||
Cherry blossom viewing unesco world heritage koyasan shingon buddhism kongobuji explained
Kongōbu-ji (金剛峯寺) is the ecclesiastic head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, located on Mount Kōya (高野山, Kōya-san), Wakayama prefecture, Japan. Its name means Temple of the Diamond Mountain. It is part of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range" UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The temple was first constructed as Seigan-ji Temple in 1593 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the death of his mother, rebuilt in 1861, and given its present name in 1869. It contains many sliding screen doors painted by Kanō Tanyū (1602-1674) and members of Kyoto's Kanō school.
The temple's modern Banryūtei (蟠龍庭) rock garden is Japan's largest (2340 square meters), with 140 granite stones arranged to suggest a pair of dragons emerging from clouds to protect the temple.
As of 2013 the 412th abbot Yukei Matsunaga, who also acts as the supreme archbishop of the Koyasan Shingon sect, was incumbent.