It is said that the temple was built in
the 2nd year of Bunpo (1318) by priest Houmyoshonin
(1279 -1349). He was born around here and
he made a happy life with his family but
later in his youth he met with a series of
misfortunes, so he felt vanity of life and
entered a Buddhist priesthood. He studied
and trained himself at the Koyasan (Wakayama
Prefecture) and Hieizan (Kyoto Prefecture)
mountains and later became the respectable
restorer of the Hirano Dainenbutsuji temple
(Osaka Prefecture).
We are able to find two stone tombs named
Ganzuka (the tomb of a wild goose) in the
compound, each of which has an inscription
made in the 2nd year of Kouchou (1262) and
the 2nd year of Ryakuou (1339). Legend has
it that a hunter shot down a wild goose to
find it without neck and after that he shot
down another goose to find that it held firmly
another neck. The two gooses were a parent
and a child. The hunter and his wife so pitiful
on the gooses that they held a memorial service
to let the gooses rest in peace. According
to another legend, there was a container
named "Gan" under the tomb and
it held a Buddhist image or so. |
