The Jinko-in Temple (神光院)
The Jinko-in Temple is a tanritsu jiin (a temple which belongs to no sect) of the Shingon Sect line in Kita Ward, Kyoto City. Its sango (literally, "a mountain name"), the title prefixed to the name of a Buddhist temple, is Hoko-san. Its principal image of worship is the statue of Kobo Daishi and is revered as Yakuyoke Daishi (Great teacher for warding off evil).
History
It is said that in 1217 during the Kamakura period, Yoshihisa MATSUSHITA, the head Shinto priest of the Kamigamo-jinja Shrine (or the Kamowake Ikazuchi-jinja Shrine) followed an oracle to invite Kyoen Shonin from Yamato Province (present-day Nara Prefecture) as the founder of the temple, and erected it. At the end of the Edo period, Rengetsu OTAGAKI, a poetess as well as a ceramic artist, hermitized in this temple. In the early Meiji period the temple was deserted, but in 1878 it was revived.
Cultural properties
Important Cultural Properties
Color painting on silk of Butsugen Mandara
Writing in ink on paper of Shittan ryakuki (Essentials of Sanskrit characters)
Golden Light of the Most Victorious Kings Sutra in Minute Characters
National treasures formerly stocked in the Jinko-in Temple
Three national treasures below are formerly stocked in the Jinko-in Temple.
Golden Light Sutra on Paper Decorated with Line Drawings (Kyoto National Museum)
Segment of the Kongohannya kyo Sutra Commentary, handwritten by Kukai (Kyoto National Museum)
Sessekicho Yuran (Music sheet of 'Elegant Orchid' in the Jieshi Tuning for koto, Japanese long zither with thirteen strings) (Tokyo National Museum)
Location
120 Nishigamo Jinkoin-cho, Kita Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture