Kannondo Hall ｜ Cultural Properties ｜ Miidera Temple Cultural Property Museum ｜ The Head Temple of the Tendaijimon Buddhist Sect Miidera Temple

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This is the fourteenth stop on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a route that connects thirty-three temples dedicated to Kannon in Western Japan. The hall sits in a scenic location overlooking Lake Biwa and the city of Otsu, a beautiful setting that has been cherished by writers and artists for centuries.
The Kannondo Hall is a central building in the southern section of the temple grounds. It was reportedly founded in 1072 as a place to pray for the recovery of Emperor Gosanjo, who was suffering from an illness at the time. The hall was later moved to its present location, but the original building burned down in 1686. The current hall was constructed in 1689 and contains as its principal image the statue of a seated Nyoirin Kannon, a work of art that has been designated by the government as an Important Cultural Property. The statue is rarely seen by anyone but the monks at the temple, and is only open to the public once every 33 years.
The building is a massive structure consisting of the Main Hall and the Raido Hall. The Raido Hall is connected to the main building by a corridor, which is called an ai-no-ma in Japanese, and serves as an outer sanctum (gejin). Its interior displays the beautiful design of the Genroku period (1688－1704).

“Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage”

The pilgrimage route to worship Kannon by visiting 33 Buddhist temples located in Gifu Prefecture and other six prefectures in Kinki Region. It is the oldest pilgrimage route and many worshippers visit it. The oldest records are the pilgrimage records written in “Jimon-Koso-ki” (the records of Jimon school’s high-grade priests) by Gyoson (1055–1135) and Kakuchu (1118–1177). Both were priests in Miidera Temple in the Heian period (794–1185), and Miidera Temple greatly influenced the forming of the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. The Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage became popular among people the Muromachi period (1336–1573) onward. Other pilgrimage routes called copied versions of the Saigoku 33 Kannon pilgrimage such as the Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage in the Kanto Region and the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage were established all over the country. It was designated as a Japan Heritage site in 2019 as the “Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage—a journey of Japan’s end-of-life activity with 1300 years of history”.

“Lake Biwa”

This scenic fault lake is located in the center of Shiga Prefecture. It has the largest surface area of 670.3 ㎢ in Japan. The surface elevation is 85 meters, and the maximum depth is 104 meters. Its water has a great deal of potential for waterworks, irrigation, transportation, power generation, and fisheries, as a wide area receives water. There are some islands such as Oki-shima, Chikubu-shima, Take-shima, and Okinoshiraishi. Also called the sea of Omi and Nionoumi.

“the southern section of the temple grounds”

“Emperor Gosanjo”

Emperor Gosanjo (1034–1073) was the emperor who reigned in the mid-Heian period. The second prince of Emperor Gosuzaku. His name was Takahito. He suppressed the Fujiwara clan’s arbitrary use of power and founded the record office to organize manors in order to end the political abuse. (Reigned 1068–1072)

“statue of a seated Nyoirin Kannon”

The statue has one face and six arms. It is made with a technique, yosegi-zukuri (assembled with pieces of wood), with carved eyes and is covered in gold leaf on Japanese lacquer. Its appearance with his rounded face tilted to the right, the back of the fingers of one right hand on his cheek and his right knee standing is graceful and beautiful. A large openwork crown on his head and necklaces were added later.

“The Raido Hall is connected to the main building by a corridor, which is called an ai-no-ma in Japanese, and serves as an outer sanctum (gejin). ”

−: Edo Period
(2nd year of Genroku Era, 1689)