senkouji

Known as Motoyama-jo Senkoji, this ancient temple of the Shingon Daigo sect stands in Narikawacho, Heguri, Nara. Its mountain name is Narikawa-san, and its principal deity is a standing statue of the Eleven-faced Thousand-armed Kannon Bodhisattva. The temple is said to have been founded by En-no-Gyoja, the patriarch of Shugendo mountain asceticism, making it a sacred site for those who trained in the rugged mountain worship tradition of the Kinki region. It was later revived by the monk Eison during the Kamakura period. The Eleven-faced Thousand-armed Kannon, whose vow encompasses saving all beings in every direction, continues to be enshrined here in the mountain stillness.