Yatadera Temple (Yata Jizoson)
Main Image Standing Jizo Bosatsu (Daijuku Jizo) Category Bosatsu (Bodhisattva)
Impression TagsGentlenessMysteryDepth
DescriptionYatadera in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward enshrines a standing Jizo Bodhisattva about two meters tall as its principal image. Temple tradition says the founder, Mankei Shonin, had the figure carved after encountering a living manifestation of Jizo in the underworld. Because the bodhisattva is believed to enter the flames of hell and take on the suffering of the dead in order to save them, the image is known as Daijuku Jizo, the Jizo who bears suffering in another’s place. Despite its location in the busy Teramachi shopping district, the principal image can be worshipped on an everyday visit. Together with the temple’s “sending bell,” it is one of Kyoto’s most distinctive expressions of belief in the boundary between this world and the afterlife.
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