Byakugō-ji

Byakugō-ji 白毫寺
Basic information
Location	392 Byakugōji-chō, Nara, Nara Prefecture
Affiliation	Buddhism
Country	Japan

Byakugō-ji (白毫寺) is a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan. A number of wooden statues of the Heian and Kamakura periods have been designated Important Cultural Properties and the temple's five-coloured camellias are a Prefectural Natural Monument.^[1][2]

Name

The byakugō or urna is the curl of white hair between the eyebrows that is one of the thirty-two physical characteristics of the Buddha.^[3][4]

Buildings

The five by five bay Hondō, with tiled hipped roof, dates from the early Edo period (first half of the seventeenth century) and has been designated a Municipal Cultural Property.^[5] A tahōtō was still standing in the Meiji period.^[6]

Treasures

Byakugō-ji's seven Important Cultural Properties of Japan are, from the Heian period, an Amida Nyorai, and a bodhisattva traditionally identified as Monju Bosatsu and once enshrined in the temple's tahōtō, and from the Kamakura period, Enma-ō, attendants Shiroku (司録) and Shimyō (司命), Taizan-ō (太山王), Jizō Bosatsu, and Kōshō Bosatsu (興正菩薩) (Eison (叡尊).^[1] The Taizan-ō was carved by Kōen (康円) in 1259 and has an inscription documenting repairs in 1498.^[7][8]

See also

• For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese Buddhism.

References

1. 国指定文化財一覧 [List of National Cultural Properties] (in Japanese). Nara Prefecture. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
2. "奈良県指定文化財一覧" [List of Prefectural Cultural Properties of Nara Prefecture] (PDF) (in Japanese). Nara Prefecture. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
3. Seckel, Dietrich (1985). "Buddhist Temple Names in Japan". Monumenta Nipponica. Sophia University. 40 (4): 378. JSTOR 2384822.
4. "byakugou". Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
5. 白毫寺本堂 [Byakugōji Hondō] (in Japanese). Nara City. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
6. 白毫寺多宝塔 [Byakugōji Tahōtō] (in Japanese). Tokyo National Museum. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
7. 木造太山王坐像〈康円作／〉 [Seated Wooden Statue of Taizan-ō (by Kōen)] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
8. 太山王坐像（百毫寺） [Seated Statue of Taizan-ō (Byakugōji)] (in Japanese). Tobunken. Retrieved 29 November 2015.

Coordinates: 34°40′15″N 135°51′05″E / 34.670957°N 135.851269°E