Shorinji

Shorinji is an ancient temple of the Shingon Murou-ji school, located in Sakurai, Nara, with the mountain name Ryoonzan. According to tradition, it was founded in 712 (Wado 5) by Jokei, the eldest son of Fujiwara no Kamatari, as a branch temple of Tomino-mine Myoraku-ji. Destroyed by Kofuku-ji in the late Heian period, it was restored in the Kamakura era and renamed Shorinji during the Kyoho years. Its greatest treasure is the National Treasure wooden-core dry-lacquer eleven-faced Kannon standing statue, a masterpiece of the late Nara period transferred from Dairin-ji at the time of the Meiji-era separation of Shinto and Buddhism. Admired by Ernest Fenollosa and philosopher Tetsuro Watsuji, the statue continues to attract visitors from around the world.