Wrapping up my temple tour in Kamakura was a charming little temple with a lot of history, odd worshiping caves and some fantastic views of the Kamakura Hase beach-side. Actually, if you were to have to choose one temple in Kamakura I would say – make it this one. You will not be disappointed.
The official Hasedera Temple website writes :
According to legend, in 721 AD the pious monk Tokudo Shonin discovered a large camphor tree in the mountain forests near the village of Hase in the Nara region. He realized the trunk of the tree was so large that it provided enough material for carving two statues of the eleven-headed Kannon. The statue he commissioned to be carved from the lower part of the truck was enshrined in Hasedera Temple near Nara; the statue from the upper half (actually the larger of the two) was thrown into the sea with a prayer that it would reappear to save the people. Fifteen years later in 736 on the night of June 18, it washed ashore at Nagai Beach on the Miura Peninsula not far from Kamakura, sending out rays of light as it did. The statue was then brought to Kamakura and a temple was constructed to honor it. Since time immemorial, Hasedera Temple has been known as the 4th station among the 33 holy places in the Kanto area.
Doesn’t make much sense? Wikipedia helps :
Hase-dera (長谷寺?) (known more formally as Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera (海光山慈照院長谷寺)), commonly called the Hase-kannon (長谷観音) is one of the great Buddhist temples in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, famous for housing a massive wooden statue of Kannon. The temple is the fourth of the 33 stations of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage circuit dedicated to the goddess Benzaiten.
The temple originally belonged to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, but eventually became an independent temple of the Jōdo shū sect.
The temple also commands an impressive view over Kamakura’s bay and is famous for its hydrangeas, which bloom along the Hydrangea Path in June and July. The temple is built on two levels and also includes an underground cave. The cave, called benten kutsu cave, contains a long winding tunnel with a low ceiling and various statues and devotionals to Benzaiten, the sea goddess and the only female of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology.
The grounds of the temple are home to hundreds of small Jizō statues, placed by parents mourning offspring lost to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. These statues remain in place for about a year, before being removed to make way for more statues; it is estimated that some 50,000 Jizō statues have been placed at Hase-dera since WWII
What’s to see? plenty.
Gardens…
Cute statues…
Dark caves of worship…
A large temple…
And some of the best views of Kamakura possible…
If you’re in need of a map :
If you’re in Kamakura, do no miss this.