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*''Established: c. 1450-1456''
*''Japanese'': 天界寺 ''(Tenkai-ji)''
Tenkai-ji was a [[Rinzai]] [[Zen]] temple in [[Shuri]], the capital of the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]]. It was one of three royal temples in the city, along with [[Engaku-ji (Okinawa)|Engaku-ji]] and [[Tenno-ji (Okinawa)|Tennô-ji]].
The temple is said to have been founded by King [[Sho Taikyu|Shô Taikyû]] around 1450-1456, and enshrined the unmarried princes and princesses of the Second [[Sho Dynasty|Shô Dynasty]], as well as holding the mortuary tablets of Kings Shô Taikyû and [[Sho Toku|Shô Toku]] of the First Shô Dynasty. The temple was destroyed in a fire in [[1576]], but was later reconstructed, the temple grounds covering an area of roughly 1,080 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]''. A [[Kannon]] Hall, which came to be known as "Shuri Kannon-dô," was established a short distance away in [[1616]], as a branch temple of Tenkai-ji. It is today attached to the temple of [[Jigen-in]].
Following the [[Ryukyu Shogun|overthrow of the kingdom]], the temple was transformed around 1913 into the ''Mitunchi'' (三殿内), a shrine incorporating shrines of the three ''Ufanshitari'' (大阿母志良礼), high priestesses of Shuri, Gibo, and Makabe. This shrine was destroyed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, and the temple grounds became a residential area. However, when [[Shuri Castle]] was reconstructed in 1992, the former site of Tenkai-ji was incorporated into the Shurijo Castle Park. The temple has not been reconstructed, but a well dug in [[1697]] on the temple grounds does survive. The site is now home to a rest center and administrative building, and is identified as the former site of Tenkai-ji by a plaque.
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==References==
*[http://www.rekishi-archive.city.naha.okinawa.jp/archives/site/%E5%A4%A9%E7%95%8C%E5%AF%BA%E8%B7%A1 Plaque on-site].
[[Category:Ryukyu]]
[[Category:Temples]]
[[Category:Muromachi Period]]