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temple in Maizuru, Japan
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Matsunoo-dera (松尾寺) is a Buddhist temple located in the Matsuo neighborhood of the city of Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It belongs to the Shingon-shū Daigo-ha sect of Japanese Buddhism and its honzon (primary image) is a hibutsu hidden image, a statue of Batō Kannon Bosatsu. The temple's full name is Aoba-san Matsunoo-ji (青葉山松尾寺).The temple is the 29th stop on the 33 temple Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage route. The temple is located on the Sea of Japan, at an elevation of about 250 meters on the southern slope of Mount Aoba (also known as "Wakasa Fuji"), which is 693 meters above sea level.
According to legend, during the Keiun era (704-708), the monk Iko from Tang China climbed Mount Aoba and perceived the spiritual force of Batō Kannon under a large tree. In 708, he built a small hermitage and carved an image of Batō Kannon as its main image.
The temple first appears in the historical record in 1119, when Emperor Toba visited it, and awarded it estates with revenues of 4000 koku for its upkeep. The temple flourished, and at one time had 65 subsidiaries.
The temple was destroyed by fire on numerous occasions, but was rebuilt each time with the support of the Hosokawa clan, and later the Kyōgoku clan. The current main hall was renovated by Makino Hidenari, daimyō of Tango-Tanabe Domain in 1730.
The temple is located approximately 10 minutes by car west of Matsunoodera Station on the JR West Obama Line.
The honzon is a hibutsu hidden image of Batō Kannon Bosatsu It was open to the public from October 2008 to October 2009 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the death of cloistered Emperor Kazan, marking the first public viewing since 1931.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Matsunoo-dera”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.