Sennyu-ji Temple, Kyoto
Founded in 1218 by the monk Shunjo, Sennyu-ji was for centuries a mortuary temple for aristocrats and the imperial house. |
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Butsuden at Sennyuji Temple. |
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Shariden at Sennyuji Temple. |
The tombs of Emperor Komei and Emperor Go-Horikawa are located here. |
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Sennyuji Temple's imperial mausoleum. |
The temple takes its name from a spring nearby what is thought to be a ninth-century hermitage of Kukai, founder of the Shingon sect. Sokujoin, one of Sennyuji's subtemples, is dedicated to the worship of Amida. Its main hall contains late Heian-period carvings of Amida surrounded by 25 attendant bodhisattvas. |
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Shaka flanked by Amida and Miroku in the Butsuden
of Sennyuji Temple. |
Just inside the temple's main gate is a small Kannon-do containing a figure of Yang Kwei-fei as a manifestation of Kannon. Mentioned several times in The Tale of Genji, the Yang Kwei-fei affair refers to a T'ang Dynasty romance between China's Emperor Hsuan Tsung and his favourite consort. It is said that when Yang Kwei-fei died, the emperor missed her so much that he had her sculpture made in the image of Avalokitesvara (Kannon), which was brought to Sennyu-ji Temple in Kyoto by the priest Tankai in 1255. The image is known as the Yokihi Kannon or Empress Yang-Avalokitesvara. |
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Yokihi Kannon-do in the grounds of Sennyuji Temple. |
