仁王門
これは高徳院への正門であり、「大遺山」という寺の別名を記した銘板が掲げられています。この山名の意味するところは明らかではありません。この門は18世紀に別の場所に再建され、仁王像も造られました。これは、寺の守護者であり、また仏教そのものの守護者でもある、半神の存在です。仁王は恐ろしげな外見をしており、その口は神聖な守護の音節である「阿」と「吽」を示しています。
Title The Nio Gate
- Kanagawa
- Topic(s)：
- Shrines/Temples/Churches
- Medium/Media of Use：
- Pamphlet
- Text Length：
- ≤250 Words
- FY Prepared：
- 2019
- Associated Tourism Board：
- Kotoku-in
- Associated Address：
- 4-2-28 Hase, Kamakura-shi , Kanagawa
English
The Nio Gate
The Nio Gate is the principal entrance to Kotokuin Temple. It appears to have been moved to its current location in the early eighteenth century, together with the two Benevolent King (Nio) statues that are housed on either side of the gate. The Nio are semi-divine entities who serve as guardians of both the temple and of the Buddhism faith. They are fierce in appearance and are depicted with their mouths formed for the utterance of “a” and “un,” the first and last syllables in the Japanese language, symbolic of the beginning and the end, birth and death.
The Nio Gate at Kotokuin bears a plaque with a second name, Daiizan, part of the full name of the temple (Daiizan Kotokuin Shojosenji).
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