Bandō Sanjūsankasho
The Bandō Sanjūsankasho (坂東三十三箇所) ("The 33 Bandō Temples") is a series of 33 Buddhist temples in Eastern Japan sacred to Goddess Kannon[1]. Bandō is the old name for what is now the Kantō region[2], used in this case because the temples are all in the Prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Tokyo, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba[1]. As is the case with all such circuits, each location has a rank, and pilgrims believe that visiting them all in order is an act of great religious merit[2].
Started by Minamoto no Yoritomo and his son Sanetomo[1], the Bandō Sanjūsankasho is just one of 70 different Kannon pilgrimage circuits existing in Japan, each including 33 temples because the Goddess is believed to have 33 different manifestations[2]. Sugimoto-dera in Kamakura is number one, Zushi's Gandenji's is number two, An'yō-in in Kamakura is the number three, the famous Hasedera in Hase number four, and so on[1]. From its beginning at Sugimotodera to its end in Chiba's Nagodera, the circuit is over 1300 km long[1]. Even though women were allowed to pray at individual temples, the circuit was originally reserved to male pilgrims[2]. Now however most of the pilgrims are women[2]. Pilgrims leave behind a slip of paper or a sticker as a proof of their visit, and many of these can be seen plastered on temple walls and pillars[3].
The 33 temples of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho circuit[1]
Number 1 - Sugimoto-dera, Kanagawa
Number 2 - Ganden-ji, Kanagawa
Number 3 - An'yō-in, Kanagawa
Number 4 - Hase-dera (Kamakura, Kanagawa)
Number 5 - Shōfuku-ji, Kanagawa
Number 6 - Hasedera, Atsugi, Kanagawa
Number 7 - Kōmyō-ji, Kanagawa
Number 8 - Shōkoku-ji, Kanagawa
Number 9 - Jikō-ji, Saitama
Number 10 - Shōbō-ji, Saitama
Number 11 - Anraku-ji, Saitama
Number 12 - Jion-ji, Saitama
Number 13 - Sensō-ji, Tokyo
Number 14 - Gumyō-ji, Kanagawa
Number 15 - Chōkoku-ji, Gunma
Number 16 - Mizusawadera, Gunma
Number 17 - Manganji, Tochigi
Number 18 - Chūzen-ji, Tochigi
Number 19 - Ōya-ji, Tochigi
Number 20 - Saimyo-ji, Tochigi
Number 21 - Nichirin-ji, Ibaraki
Number 22 - Satakedera, Ibaraki
Number 23 - Kanzeon-ji, Ibaraki
Number 24 - Rakuhō-ji, Ibaraki
Number 25 - Ōmi-dō, Ibaraki
Number 26 - Kiyotaki-ji, Ibaraki
Number 27 - Enpuku-ji, Chiba
Number 28 - Ryushō-in, Chiba
Number 29 - Chiba-dera, Chiba
Number 30 - Kōzō-ji, Chiba
Number 31 - Kasamori-ji, Chiba
Number 32 - Kiyomizu-dera, Chiba
Number 33 - Nago-dera, Chiba
See also
- For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism.
Notes
References
- Donald Richie. Pilgrimage for the 21st century accessed on April 17, 2008 Template:En icon
- Iso Mutsu. Kamakura: Fact and Legend', Tuttle Publishing (1995/06) ISBN 0-8048-1968-8 Template:En icon
- Article "Bandō Sanjūsankasho", Japanese Wikipedia, accessed on April 17, 2008 Template:Ja icon