Asakusa Temple
Early in the morning of March 18, 628, when the capital of Japan was Asuka (present-day Nara Prefecture), two fishermen, Hinokuma Hamanari and his brother Takenari, were fishing in the Sumida River. Suddenly sensing something, they pulled up their net to find a statue of Bodhisattva Kannon. When Haji no Nakatomo, village headman of Asakusa, heard about this, he immediately realized that the object was a statue of the important Buddhist deity Bodhisattva Kannon. Taking vows as a Buddhist priest and remaking his home into a temple, he spent the rest of his life in devotion to Bodhisattva Kannon.
In 645, renowned Buddhist priest Shokai Shonin built Kannondo Hall upon visiting the Asakusa district during his travels. Following a revelation he received in a dream, Shokai decided that the image should be hidden from human view, and this tradition has remained in place ever since.
時は飛鳥時代、推古天皇36年(628)3月18日の早朝、檜前浜成・竹成(ひのくまのはまなり・たけなり)の兄弟が江戸浦(隅田川)に漁撈(ぎょろう)中、はからずも一躰の観音さまのご尊像を感得(かんとく)した。郷司(ごうじ)土師中知(はじのなかとも:名前には諸説あり)はこれを拝し、聖観世音菩薩さまであることを知り深く帰依(きえ)し、その後出家し、自宅を改めて寺となし、礼拝(らいはい)供養に生涯を捧げた。 |
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