Reihikaku Pavilion
This small pavilion shelters a stone altar that was once used to perform the Goma fire ritual. In the ritual, a fire would be kindled in the small depression in the altar, and pieces of paper or wood on which are written prayers would be burned, thereby delivering the prayers to Fudo Myoo. In 1654, monk Kokai stayed here to pray for peace within the realm. In 1902 a great flood destroyed the original pavilion as well as a two-meter tall statue of Fudo Myoo located on the far shore. The pavilion was rebuilt in 1971.
Across the river from the pavilion the Sanskrit characters for kanman (corresponding to the last word of Fudo Myoo’s mantra) are chiseled into a large concave area of the rock. The characters were carved by a monk who was a contemporary of Kokai.