As I said, we arrived at the temple early so we had a lot of time to explore. Previously I posted a picture of the gate with the straw sandals. Here is a picture that shows a bit more detail. The sign board lists the names of the people who contributed funds to the construction of the sandal.
An inner gate was guarded by fierce warriors. The ferocious creatures are supposed to battle and defeat any evil that tries to enter the temple grounds. They are wooden and very close to three meters tall. I certainly was glad that they decided that I was not going to be a problem.
Once inside the grounds proper, we found a very nice stone statue of Kobo Daishi. Notice that he is carrying a bag just like the ones that Pilgrims now carry, except that his would have been waxed or oiled cloth or leather and ours were made from plastic of some sort so that the were waterproof.
Another nice dragon spout. The procedure is to take one of the long handled bowls and put it under the dragon's mouth to get some water. Then one at a time, you pour the water on your hands to purify them.
An inner gate was guarded by fierce warriors. The ferocious creatures are supposed to battle and defeat any evil that tries to enter the temple grounds. They are wooden and very close to three meters tall. I certainly was glad that they decided that I was not going to be a problem.
Once inside the grounds proper, we found a very nice stone statue of Kobo Daishi. Notice that he is carrying a bag just like the ones that Pilgrims now carry, except that his would have been waxed or oiled cloth or leather and ours were made from plastic of some sort so that the were waterproof.
Another nice dragon spout. The procedure is to take one of the long handled bowls and put it under the dragon's mouth to get some water. Then one at a time, you pour the water on your hands to purify them.
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