Fujii-dera in Ōsaka

On the 18^th of August I visited Fujii-dera 葛井寺 in Ōsaka on the occasion of the unveiling of the temple’s honzon (main idol). This impressive statue of the thousand armed Kannon (千手観音菩薩 Sen-ju Kannon-bosatsu) dates from the Tenpyō period (天平時代 710-794) and is famous for the fact that it actually has a thousand arms carrying flowers, axes, spears etc., as opposed to most Sen-ju Kannon statues that simple have a lot of arms to create the illusion that they have thousand arms. The age, craftsmanship and serene facial expression of this work created a mystical silence in the temple, in spite of the large number of visitors. Unfortunately, taking pictures of the honzon and other statues, like an eight-armed Benzai-ten 弁財天 with a torii  鳥居 on top of her head and some Jizō-bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 statues, was not allowed.

Place where one can deposit so-called gomagi 護摩木, wooden tablets on which wishes and the like are written before they are ritually burned by the temple’s monks.

 The burning of gomagi (the rain prevented me from taking a better picture).

A beautiful Ryūzu (dragon head) Kannon 龍頭観音 for worshippers to sprinkle with water.

The temple’s main hall, with a man praying on the left-hand side.

Kūkai 空海, often referred to as Kōbō-daishi 弘法大師 within the Shingon sect.

Jizō-bosatsu 地蔵菩薩

A beautiful example of syncretism: the originally Hindu deity Benzai-ten 弁財天 (Skt: Sarasvatī सरस्वती)  who was adopted by Buddhism is enshrined here behind some Shintoist torii 鳥居.

Kannon-bosatsu carved out of a large rock with some pine branches offered to both sides.

Bishamon-ten 毘沙門天on a lantern as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, each looking at a different cardinal direction.

An altar for Benzai-ten to the left and one for Kannon to the right. These two deities are the most commonly depicted ones inside and around the Fujii-dera, along with Jizō-bosatsu.

  A statue of Jizō with an inscription reading 子育地蔵尊 "Child raising Jizō".