Chugen-ji Temple (仲源寺)
Chugen-ji Temple is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Jodo (Pure Land) Sect located in Higashiyama-ku Ward, Kyoto City. Its sango (literally, "mountain name"), which is the title prefixed to the name of a Buddhist temple is Jufukusan (Mt. Jufuku). The principal image is Jizo Bosatsu (Jizo Bodhisattva), which is also known as Meyami Jizo as it is worshipped for its ability to treat eye diseases. In addition, the Thousand-armed Kannon statue housed within the Kannon-do hall is the 16th site of the 33 temples of Rakuyo Kannon Pilgrimage in Kyoto.
History
According to legend, Chugen-ji Temple is said to have been founded by the Buddhist sculptor Jocho (unknown - 1057) in the middle Heian period and originally located to the northeast of Shijo-bashi Bridge. In 1228 during the Kamakura period, the Kamo-gawa River flooded due to heavy rain, but the rain stopped and the floodwater subsided when the Nakahara (中原) clan who served as Bokashi (administration of the Kamo-gawa River) prayed to the Jizo statue for the rain to stop, and the temple was granted the name 'Chugen-ji Temple' (仲源寺, which are expressed in 'naka' (中) and 'hara' (原) added right-hand radical of each Chinese character, meaning 'human' (人) and 'water' (水) respectively) by the imperial court. The temple was relocated to its current site in 1585.
Cultural Property
Important Cultural Property
Wooden seated statue of the Thousand-armed Kannon
Address
585-1 Gion-machi Higashigawa, Yamato-oji Street higashi iru, Shijo-dori Street, Higashiyama-ku Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture