Bandō Sanjūsankasho

The Bandō Sanjūsankasho (坂東三十三箇所) ("The Bandō 33 Kannon Pilgrimage") is a series of 33 Buddhist temples in Eastern Japan sacred to Goddess Kannon. Bandō is the old name for what is now the Kantō region,[1] used in this case because the temples are all in the Prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Tokyo, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba. 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.[1]

Started by Minamoto no Yoritomo and his son Sanetomo, 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.[1] 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. From its beginning at Sugimotodera to its end in Chiba's Nagodera, the circuit is over 1300 km long. Even though women were allowed to pray at individual temples, the circuit was originally reserved to male pilgrims.[1] Now however most of the pilgrims are women.[1] 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.[2]

The 33 temples of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho circuit

No. Temple Honzon (main image) Location Coordinates Image
1 Sugimoto-dera Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Kamakura, Kanagawa 35.322611°N 139.567444°E / 35.322611; 139.567444 (Sugimoto-dera)
2 Ganden-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Zushi, Kanagawa 35.305056°N 139.572306°E / 35.305056; 139.572306 (Ganden-ji)
3 An'yō-in Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Kamakura, Kanagawa 35.314167°N 139.555278°E / 35.314167; 139.555278 (An'yō-in)
4 Hase-dera Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Kamakura, Kanagawa 35.3125°N 139.533056°E / 35.3125; 139.533056 (Hase-dera)
5 Shōfuku-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Odawara, Kanagawa 35.280028°N 139.164333°E / 35.280028; 139.164333 (Shōfuku-ji)
6 Hase-dera Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Atsugi, Kanagawa 35.471611°N 139.303833°E / 35.471611; 139.303833 (Hase-dera (Iiyama Kannon))
7 Kōmyō-ji Shō Kannon
(Aryavalokitesvara)
Hiratsuka, Kanagawa 35.35875°N 139.288778°E / 35.35875; 139.288778 (Kōmyō-ji)
8 Shōkoku-ji Shō Kannon
(Aryavalokitesvara)
Zama, Kanagawa 35.484889°N 139.398889°E / 35.484889; 139.398889 (Shōkoku-ji)
9 Jikō-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja Sahasra-netra)
Tokigawa, Saitama 36.010944°N 139.229889°E / 36.010944; 139.229889 (Jikō-ji)
10 Shōbō-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Higashimatsuyama, Saitama 36.001389°N 139.362361°E / 36.001389; 139.362361 (Shōbō-ji)
11 Anraku-ji Shō Kannon
(Aryavalokitesvara)
Yoshimi, Saitama 36.054333°N 139.438278°E / 36.054333; 139.438278 (Anraku-ji)
12 Jion-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Saitama, Saitama 35.979444°N 139.710778°E / 35.979444; 139.710778 (Jion-ji)
13 Sensō-ji Shō Kannon
(Aryavalokitesvara)
Asakusa, Tokyo 35.714722°N 139.79675°E / 35.714722; 139.79675 (Sensō-ji)
14 Gumyō-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Yokohama, Kanagawa 35.424167°N 139.597417°E / 35.424167; 139.597417 (Gumyō-ji)
15 Chōkoku-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Takasaki, Gunma 36.385278°N 138.932639°E / 36.385278; 138.932639 (Chōkoku-ji)
16 Mizusawa-dera Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Shibukawa, Gunma 36.479333°N 138.945278°E / 36.479333; 138.945278 (Mizusawa-dera)
17 Mangan-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Tochigi, Tochigi 36.475528°N 139.58925°E / 36.475528; 139.58925 (Mangan-ji)
18 Chūzen-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Nikkō, Tochigi 36.730917°N 139.491667°E / 36.730917; 139.491667 (Chūzen-ji)
19 Ōya-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Utsunomiya, Tochigi 36.596222°N 139.820917°E / 36.596222; 139.820917 (Ōya-ji)
20 Saimyō-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Mashiko, Tochigi 36.452778°N 140.117361°E / 36.452778; 140.117361 (Saimyō-ji)
21 Nichirin-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Daigo, Ibaraki 36.921194°N 140.273722°E / 36.921194; 140.273722 (Nichirin-ji)
22 Satake-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Hitachiōta, Ibaraki 36.526028°N 140.504667°E / 36.526028; 140.504667 (Satake-ji)
23 Shōfuku-ji Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja Sahasra-netra)
Kasama, Ibaraki 36.386306°N 140.259611°E / 36.386306; 140.259611 (Shōfuku-ji)
24 Rakuhō-ji (楽法寺) Enmei Kannon Sakuragawa, Ibaraki 36.330833°N 140.120833°E / 36.330833; 140.120833 (Rakuhō-ji)
25 Ōmi-dō Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 36.212639°N 140.099417°E / 36.212639; 140.099417 (Ōmi-dō)
26 Kiyotaki-ji (清滝寺) Shō Kannon
(Aryavalokitesvara)
Tsuchiura, Ibaraki 36.165194°N 140.167361°E / 36.165194; 140.167361 (Kiyotaki-ji)
27 Enpuku-ji (円福寺) Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Chōshi, Chiba 35.731944°N 140.840611°E / 35.731944; 140.840611 (Enpuku-ji)
28 Ryūshō-in Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Narita, Chiba 35.867083°N 140.341944°E / 35.867083; 140.341944 (Ryushō-in)
29 Chiba-dera Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Chiba 35.595139°N 140.131694°E / 35.595139; 140.131694 (Chiba-dera)
30 Kōzō-ji Shō Kannon
(Aryavalokitesvara)
Kisarazu, Chiba 35.338806°N 139.994444°E / 35.338806; 139.994444 (Kōzō-ji)
31 Kasamori-ji Jūichimen Kannon
(Ekādaśamukha)
Chōnan, Chiba 35.399611°N 140.198917°E / 35.399611; 140.198917 (Kasamori-ji)
32 Kiyomizu-dera Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Isumi, Chiba 35.290139°N 140.356333°E / 35.290139; 140.356333 (Kiyomizu-dera)
33 Nago-dera Senju Kannon
(Sahasra-bhuja)
Tateyama, Chiba 35.025556°N 139.857972°E / 35.025556; 139.857972 (Nago-dera)

See also

Notes

  1. Donald Richie
  2. Iso Mutsu

References

  • Donald Richie. Pilgrimage for the 21st century accessed on April 17, 2008 (in English)
  • Iso Mutsu. Kamakura: Fact and Legend', Tuttle Publishing (1995/06) ISBN 0-8048-1968-8 (in English)
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