Shinko-in Temple (Kyoto City) (心光院 (京都市))
Shinko-in Temple is a Buddhist temple belonging to the Jodo Sect (the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism) Chinzei School located at 42 Iwakura Shimozaiji-cho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. Its sango (honorific mountain prefix) is Mt. Shiun.
History
Shinko-in Temple was founded in 1645 by Yuishobo Chikudaitoku.
Cultural Properties
Important Cultural Properties
Wooden Statue of Amida Nyorai and Two Flanking Attendant Statues
The central seated statue of Amida Nyorai is 153cm tall. It is a yosegi-zukuri style (comprised of two or more pieces of wood) piece covered in gold leaf. It dates from the latter part of the Heian period. The statue was previously housed at Sokuni-an Temple in modern-day Iwakura Kino-cho, Sakyo Ward. The kneeling flanking statues of the bodhisattvas Kannon and Seishi are both yosegi-zukuri style pieces covered in gold leaf with crystal eyes that stand 107cm tall. They were crafted by Kochi. As with the attendant statues of the Amida triad at Sanzen-in Temple, they are depicted kneeling in the traditional Japanese manner. The central statue predates these more recent pieces which date from the Muromachi period. These statues are not ordinarily on display to the general public.
Access
Seven minutes walk from Iwakura Station (Kyoto Prefecture) on the Kurama Line of the Eizan Electric Railway.
Near to the Kyoto Bus 'Iwakura Station' stop.
Shinko-in Temple is not a sightseeing temple, so visitors are not ordinarily permitted. However, it was opened to the public for the first time in 2009 during the Kyoto spring special viewing of privately owned cultural properties.