Takkoku-no-Iwaya (達谷窟) is a Tendai sect Buddhist temple in Hiraizumi in southern Iwate Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan. Its main image is a stone image of Bishamon-ten. Its formal name is the Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamon-do (達谷窟毘沙門堂). The grounds have been designated a National Historic Site since 2005
Overview
Takkoku-no-Iwaya is located approximately six kilometers southwest of Hiraizumi, between the center of town and Genbikei ravine. The temple is built below an overhanging cliff, and incorporates a shallow cave containing a bas-relief statue of Bishamon-ten. In the Heian period, a large statue of Fudō Myōō (designated an Iwate Prefectural Cultural Property) and a bas-relief image of Buddha carved into the rock face were added.
The temple claims to have been founded by the imperial dynasty Chinjufu-shōgun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro in 801 AD to commemorate his victory over the local Emishi tribes, who had used this cave as a fortification. The temple was described in the Kamakura period chronicle, Azuma Kagami.
The temple has burned down many times and its original form is unknown today; the current building dates from 1961 and was modeled after the famous Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto.
Takkoku-no-Iwaya was included in the original 2006 nomination of "Hiraizumi - Cultural Landscape Associated with Pure Land Buddhist Cosmology", but was removed from the nomination after the failure to secure inscription in 2008; although there are continuing efforts to secure its inclusion through future extension.