Kongōbu-ji

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kongōbuji (金剛峰寺) is the head temple of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, located on Mount Kōya (高野山, Kōya-san^?), Wakayama prefecture, Japan. Its name means Temple of the Diamond Mountain.

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 Banryutei 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.

[edit] References

• Japan Visitor article
• Wakayama Prefecture article
• Alison Main, Newell Platten, The Lure of the Japanese Garden, W. W. Norton & Company, 2002, page 46. ISBN 0393730913.
• Dorothy Perkins, Encyclopedia of Japan: Japanese History and Culture, from Abacus to Zori, "Kongobuji" article, Facts on File, 1991, page 182. ISBN 0816019347.