SUGIMOTO-DERA – Alajournal

Sugimoto-dera is said to have been established during the Nara Era in the 8th Century = 500 years before the rise of Kamakura Shogunate and this makes it the oldest temple in Kamakura. The priest Gyoki or Bodhisattva Gyoki (668-749) established it to meet the wish of Empress Komyo in 734. Gyoki enshrined the first Juichi-men Kannon = the goddess of mercy and compassion, an eleven faced statue of Buddha, that he had carved himself. The second Juichi-men Kannon was carved in 851 by priest Ennin – Jigaku Daishi. The third Juichi-men Kannon was carved in 985 by priest Genshin – Eshin Sozu.

These three eleven-faced Kannon statues are called “The Kannons under the cedar tree”. According to a legend the temple flared up in the Kamakura Period and these three Kannon statues walked to find protection under a cedar tree. In 1191, on 18th September, a ceremony was held for miracles in all ages at the presence of Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, who had ordered extensive repairs of the Kannon-dó = The Main Hall.

These stone steps leading towards the Main Hall are covered with moss – and it enhances their antiquity. One and only person – the Tennó = the Emperor – can walk on these ancient mossy steps when he visits this oldest Kamakura temple. For all other mortals there is another staircase

Ancient Ishi-dóró – stone lantern. In this one there is actually a candle to light. Originally all of them were used for lighting purposes and it is almost never lighted in modern times. I have seen a candle inside a lantern maybe four times only

Nió = warrior, guarding the temple gate. This guardian-deity has his mouth opened to pronounce the Sanscrit vowel sound “ah” and is a positive image, which invites every good to come in. The gate is being guarded jointly by two warriors, one at each side, and the gate is named Niómon after them

This Nió has his mouth closed to pronounce “um” and is a negative image for shutting evil out. These warriors at the gate are both attributed to famous sculptor Unkei (1150-1223), however there is no evidence to support this claim

The appearance of this pair of Nió is so impressive that it just forced me to take a photo of them and somehow I just started thinking of our Slovak Master Paul of Levoča (circa 1470-1537). Not because of style but because these statues radiate something special and this is, in my opinion, what only great master can achieve. Personally I believe that Unkei himself created these statues 🙂 Unkei was a master scupltor of Buddhist statues. He was active in the early Kamakura period. The statues of worriors he created impress with the depiction of muscles symbolizing power and this fit in within the time of military government and was admired by samurai class. His statues are depicted in motion and are very dynamic. Together with his father and his son he belonged to the Kei school of scuplture.