Yatadera (Kyoto)

The entrance to Yatadera.

• Other Names: 矢田地蔵 (yata jizou)
• Japanese: 矢田寺 (yatadera)

Formally called Kongô-zan Yatadera, Yata-dera, also commonly known as Yata Jizô, is a Nishiyama Jodo-shû Buddhist temple in Kyoto.

According to histories passed down within the temple itself, the temple was founded at Gojô-bômon in the early Heian period as a branch temple of the Yatadera still standing and active in Yamato province (Nara). Temple lands changed, and in 1579 the temple was moved to its current location.

The statue of the bodhisattva Jizô enshrined in the main hall as the chief object of worship is a two-meter tall standing figure, and is said to have been carved from the dark earth of the underworld by Mankei (aka Manmai), the founder of the temple, who met the true Jizô there, and copied his likeness or form. Worshippers gather to pray to this statue as the Jizô who saves those who have died and are in hell.

The temple's bell, in contrast to the "Welcoming Bell" of the temple Rokudô-chin-ô-ji, is called the "Sending Bell," and is rung to help send the spirits of the departed to the afterlife without them getting lost on the path.

References

• Plaques on-site.