Kannon-in Temple (Chichibu Pilgrimage No. 31)
Main Image Stone Nio Guardians and Cliff-Carved Buddhas (Thousand Buddhas) Category Deva / Other
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DescriptionKannon-in, Temple No. 31 of the Chichibu pilgrimage, is a mountain temple renowned for its stone Buddhist images. At the gate stand massive stone Nio guardians about 3 m high, carved from local Iwadonosawa stone; Saitama Prefecture describes them as Japan's largest Nio statues carved from single blocks of stone. After climbing 296 stone steps, visitors reach the Kannon Hall, where the adjoining cliff bears a prefecturally designated group of cliff-carved Buddhas: a dense array of a thousand small images also known by the traditional name “fingernail-carved Buddhas.” More stone images appear in caves on the route toward the inner sanctuary, and tradition holds that the mountain contains 108,000 stone Buddhas in all. The visit offers a striking progression from monumental guardian figures to minute cliff carvings.
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