Zenkō-ji (Gifu)

Infobox Buddhist temple
name = Zenkō-ji
善光寺


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img_capt = Zenkō-ji's main hall
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denomination = Shingon sect
founded = late 16th century
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address = 1-8 Inaba-dōri, Gifu, Gifu Prefecture
country = flagicon|Japan Japan
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website = [http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~zenkouji/menu.htm Zenkō-ji] nihongo|Zenkō-ji|善光寺 is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect built in Mino Province (modern-day Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan). It is a branch temple of Daigo-ji in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is also referred to as Gifu Zenkō-ji (岐阜善光寺) and Inaba Zenkō-ji (伊奈波善光寺). It is not known when the temple was built, though it assumed to have been built between 1592 and 1600 when Oda Nobunaga was living in nearby Gifu Castle. During the early Edo period, it received the name Zenkō-ji Anjō-in (善光寺安乗院) because the two temples were merged at the time.

History

In 1582, after the deaths of Takeda Shingen and Takeda Katsuyori, Nobunaga brought the temple's "gohonzon" to base of Inaba Shrine from neighboring Shinano Province. However, after Nobunaga's death during the Incident at Honnō-ji that same year, Oda Nobukatsu, his son, brought the "gohonzon" to Jimoku-ji (甚目寺) in what is now Aichi Prefecture. [http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~zenkouji/menu.htm Welcome to Zenkō-ji] . ja icon Zenkō-ji. Accessed May 30, 2008.]

The "gohonzon", however, later feel into the hands of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who brought them to a temple in Ōmi Province. They were again moved again in 1597, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi gained control of them and brought them to Hōkō-ji in Kyoto. The following year, they were returned to Shinano Province. Nobunaga's grandson, Oda Hidenobu, built Inaba Zenkōji-dō (伊奈波善光寺堂) to house the "gohonzon" and this is when they were first dedicated.

At first, the "gohonzon" were rotated between Anjō-in (安乗院), Mangan-ji (満願寺) and Zenkō-ji. However, after "shinbutsu bunri" in 1868, Mangan-ji, which had been on the grounds of Inaba Shrine, was dismantled while Anjō-in became an independent temple, keeping the "gohonzon" with it.

The main hall of completely burnt to the ground as a result of the 1891 Mino-Owari earthquake. The reconstructed main hall was completed in 1912.

External links

* [http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~zenkouji/menu.htm Zenkō-ji official homepage] ja icon

References