Saion-ji Temple (西園寺)
Saion-ji Temple is a Buddhist temple belonging to Jodo (Pure Land) Sect located in Kamigyo-ku Ward, Kyoto City. Its ingo (a title given to a Buddhist temple) is Chikurinin Temple. The principal image is Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Tathagata).
History
Saion-ji Temple originated with a villa built in Kitayama (present-day around Rokuon-ji Temple) by Kintsune SAIONJI in 1224. The Saionji family of court nobles prospered during the Kamakura period due to Kintsune's close connections to the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) but went into decline after the collapse of the Kamakura bakufu and, in the Muromachi period, the third shogun, Yoshimitsu ASHIKAGA, constructed Kitayamadai (now Rokuon-ji Temple) on this site, with the temple being relocated to Muromachi in 1352. The temple originally belonged to the Shingon Sect but converted to Jodo Sect and was moved to its current site in 1554.
Cultural Property
Important Cultural Property
Wooden seated statue of Amida Nyorai
Address
362 Kotokuji-cho, Kuramaguchi sagaru, Teramachi-dori Street, Kamigyo-ku Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture