Manganji

Mangan-ji is a Koyasan Shingon sect temple in Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, said to have been founded by the monk Shodo on the imperial petition of Emperor Shomu during the Nara period. The mountain name is Shinshiuzan and the principal object of worship is the Meaki Amida Nyorai. In the mid-Heian period, Minamoto no Mitsunaka became a devoted patron, and the temple flourished as a prayer hall for the Minamoto clan, becoming one of the Three Temples of Tada. In 1325 it was designated an imperial prayer temple by Emperor Go-Daigo, and during the Muromachi period it served as a prayer hall for the Ashikaga shogunate family, reaching its peak with forty-nine sub-temples. Though it declined through warfare, the stone nine-story pagoda—a National Important Cultural Property—stands as testament to its former grandeur. The Kannon Hall remains an active pilgrimage site as the thirteenth stop on the New Saigoku Thirty-three Kannon circuit.