Nihon-ji Temple (officially Kenkon-zan Nihon-ji) (Kyonan)

 buddhism, buddhist temple

The temple was founded in 725 by high priest, boddhisatva Gyoki Shonin, under the Imperial order of Emperor Shomu and Empress Komyo. It was the Imperial invocation place of worship in the Kanto area.

The Emperoir donated a tablet inscribed by his own hand, and 18.5 tons of gold; the Empress made an offering of a scroll by her own hand with 33 images of the Buddha Kwan-yin, and 10 bolts of damask and brocade.

In the beginning, the temple belonged to the Hosso sect, then to Tendai sect, Shingon sect and, since the 3rd Shiogunate (rule of Iemitsu Tokugawa) and up to day, it belongs to the Soto Zen sect.

Such prominent teachers of Buddhism as Kobo and Jikaku, as well as Roben the High Priest, used to practice here.

The Indian government gave a tree to the temple a few years ago, a sapling that was grown from a branch of the original Bodhi tree. The tree stands in the Daibutsu square, adding another touch of holiness to the mountain's sacred aura. A copy of the Ashoka's Pillar with the famous "Lions' Capitel" which became India's national emblem, guards the young tree.

The temple is particularly famous for its Daibutsu, the biggest carved stone statue of Buddha, the Daibutsu of Nihon-ji at Nokogiriyama, and the rakan (arhats) figures.