Color Picture of Omuro 88-Temple Pilgrimage
This hand-drawn color map portrays the hilly landscape behind Ninnaji in the 1820s, before the opening of the Omuro 88-Temple Pilgrimage. It reveals how the hills, now collectively referred to as Mt. Joju, each had its own name before the Omuro Pilgrimage was built as a miniature version of the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage. The map was produced and submitted as a reference document when Ninnaji applied for government permission to construct the Omuro Pilgrimage. The yellow squares are thought to mark the spots of the 88 small chapels along the route, and blue squares represent two ponds that were dug during the construction. Ninnaji’s application was successful, and the Omuro 88-Temple Pilgrimage was inaugurated in 1827. The route has undergone changes over the years and was extensively repaired and rebuilt after a destructive earthquake in 1830, yet the pilgrimage today maintains the basic appearance depicted on this map.