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is the name of a number of Buddhist temples across Japan's history. However, it refers primarily to a pair of temples, which were once one, in Kyoto.
History
The Hongan-ji was established as a temple in 1321, on the site of the Otani Mausoleum, where Shinran, the founder of the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) sect was buried. Kakunyo became the first chief priest of the Hongan-ji, and dedicated it to the worship of Amida Buddha. The Hongan-ji first gained power and importance in the 15th century, when Rennyo became its eighth chief priest. However, the Tendai sect, based on Mount Hiei, saw this expansion as a threat and attacked the Hongan-ji three times with their army of warrior monks. Rennyo fled to Yoshizaki, where he founded the Ikko sect.
During the Sengoku period, fearing the power of the monks of the Hongan-ji, Oda Nobunaga tried to destroy it. For ten years, he laid siege to the Ishiyama Hongan-ji in Osaka, one of the two primary temple fortresses of the Ikko sect. In 1604, just after Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun, he declared that the Hongan-ji be split in two. Kyonyo, the 12th chief priest of the Hongan-ji became the first of the Higashi (Eastern) Hongan-ji, while Junyo became chief priest of the Nishi (Western) Hongan-ji.
During the Meiji Restoration in the 1860s, the government set down new guidelines for the management of religious organizations. An organization called Shinshu Otani was put in control of the Higashi Hongan-ji.
In 1987, the temple was renamed "Shinshu Honbyo", or New Buddhist Mausoleum, and its purpose was reverted back to that of a mausoleum. While the temple is therefore, officially, no longer "Higashi Hongan-ji," most still regard it as such. The buildings have not been changed or moved, and of course the historical cultural and religious significance of the place cannot be changed. In 1996, a new Higashi Hongan-ji was established in the Higashiyama (Eastern Mountain) area of Kyoto by Otani Kohrin, the 25th head priest.
Nishi Hongan-ji
The Nishi Hongan-ji (西本願寺), like the Higashi Hongan-ji, features a huge Goei-do (護衛堂), founder's hall) and a smaller Amida-do (阿弥陀堂), or Buddha hall, housing an image of the Amida Buddha. The Nishi Hongan-ji's kura (倉), or storehouse, houses many National Treasures, most of which are not on view for the public. The shoin(書院), or study hall, is also quite famous; it is split into two sections, the shiroshoin (白書院), or white study hall, and the kuroshoin (黒書院), or black study hall. The Kuroshoin is never opened to the public, but the Shiroshoin opens twice a month.
Nishi Hongan-ji also contains Hiunkaku (悲運角), a large tea pavilion, and two noh stages, one of which claims to be the oldest in existence, and the Kokei no Niwa (固形の庭) gardens.
Higashi Hongan-ji
The massive Goei-do (founders' hall) Gate of Higashi Hongan-ji (東本願寺) is often one of the first things one sees walking north from JR Kyoto Station. Nearly identical to Nishi Hongan-ji in layout, it too features an Amida-do, and a larger Goei-do. The Goei-do at Higashi Hongan-ji dates from 1895 and vies with a number of other structures for the claim of largest wooden building in the world.
A few blocks from the main grounds of the Higashi Hongan-ji is the Shosei-en garden, owned by the temple. Poet-scholar Ishikawa Jozan and landscape architect Kobori Enshu are said to have contributed to its design in the 17th century.
Other temples of the name
- Tsukiji Hongan-ji, Tokyo
- Ishiyama Hongan-ji, destroyed 1580, now the site of Osaka Castle
- Yamashina Hongan-ji
References
- History of the Honganji Temple, Honganji Otani Web, 2002. (Accessed 12 April 2005).
1321 establishments | Temples and shrines in Kyoto | World Heritage Sites in Japan
"Hongan-ji"