Hase-dera

Temple · Nara

The Temple of Flowers

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

Begun in 686 when Domyo installed a work on the west hill and in 727 when Tokudo carved an eleven-headed Kannon on the east hill, it is the founding site of the Saikoku circuit of thirty-three Kannon.

The hall of Hase-dera above the hillside in Sakurai. — 663highland / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)

Quick facts

Address: 731-1 Hase, Sakurai, Nara
Spiritual entities: Avalokiteśvara (Kannon · Gwaneum, 観音菩薩)

About this place

Hase-dera is in Sakurai, Nara. In 686 the priest Domyo installed Emperor Tenmu’s engraved bronze plaque of the Lotus assembly on the west hill. In 727 the priest Tokudo, on the order of Emperor Shomu, carved an eleven-headed Kannon for the sake of all beings on the east hill, using a sacred log that had drifted down from Takashima in Omi. The principal image is that eleven-headed Kannon. The temple is venerated as the Temple of Flowers and is the founding site of the Saikoku circuit of thirty-three Kannon. Its own short history states no benefit that may be prayed for.

Origin and history

In 686 the priest Domyo installed Emperor Tenmu’s engraved bronze plaque of the Lotus assembly on the west hill.

In 727 the priest Tokudo, on the order of Emperor Shomu, carved an eleven-headed Kannon for the sake of all beings on the east hill, using a sacred log that had drifted down from Takashima in Omi.

The temple is venerated as the Temple of Flowers and is the founding site of the Saikoku circuit of thirty-three Kannon.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
The west hill and the east hill
Domyo installed Emperor Tenmu’s bronze plaque on the west hill in 686; Tokudo carved the eleven-headed Kannon on the east hill in 727.
documented history
Origin
A log that drifted in
The eleven-headed Kannon was carved from a sacred log that had drifted down from Takashima in Omi.
documented history
Power spot
Founding site of the Saikoku circuit
The temple is venerated as the Temple of Flowers and is the founding site of the Saikoku circuit of thirty-three Kannon.
documented history

This temple begins on two hills. Something was installed on the west hill in 686; the eleven-headed Kannon was carved on the east hill in 727. Two events about forty years apart stand side by side as one beginning.

The material of the principal image had travelled. A sacred log that had drifted down from Takashima in Omi, the short history says — something washed in from somewhere else, made into the image. Where the timber came from is part of the founding account.

The carving on the east hill was done on the order of Emperor Shomu. His name recurs across this list: Todai-ji, Gango-ji, and Mizuma-dera in Osaka, which was built after a dream oracle when he fell ill at forty-two.

This temple is also the founding site of the Saikoku circuit of thirty-three Kannon. Oka-dera, on this same list, is the seventh station of that circuit.

The short history states no benefit, so this page carries no tag for what may be prayed for.

Claims and evidence levels 3

In 686 Domyo installed Emperor Tenmu’s engraved bronze plaque of the Lotus assembly on the west hill. documented history
In 727 Tokudo, on Emperor Shomu’s order, carved an eleven-headed Kannon on the east hill from a sacred log that had drifted from Takashima in Omi. documented history
The temple is the founding site of the Saikoku circuit of thirty-three Kannon. documented history

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