Location
: Mandai 3-chome
Access : Approximately 50 m southeast of Tezukayama 3-chome Station on
the Hankai Tramway
It is thought
that the pond was created by damming an eroded valley in the Uemachi plateau.
The Kumano Road sweeps over the plateau and past the western end of the
pond. Mandaiike(Bandaiike) was used as an irrigation pond until the end of the Meiji
era. Long ago, there were almost no houses in the area surrounding the
pond, as the people were very afraid of a monster that was rumored to
live in its waters. However, Prince Shotoku is said to have rid the lake
of the beast by reading a Buddhist mandala chant, and thus the pond was
called Mandala Pond; it is thought that the current name is an inflection
of that. The "coast of Nagai" as mentioned in the Sensai Poetry
Anthology is thought to be referring to Mandaiike Pond or the moat constructed
around local burial mounds. These days, the area is known for its cherry
trees, which create a serenity that is all too rare in the modern metropolis. |