User:Immanuelle/Kumano Gongen

Kumano Gongen
Three-storied Pagoda of Seiganto-ji and Nachi Falls
Major cult centre	Kumano Kodō

Kumano (熊野権現), also known as Three Mountains of Kumano (熊野三山), is a Japanese deity associated with Kumano Shrines. The kami enshrined in the three Kumano Sanzan Grand Shrines and worshipped in Kumano shrines are the three Kumano mountains: Hongū, Shingū, and Nachi.

There are more than 3,000 Kumano shrines in Japan, and each has received its kami from another Kumano shrine through a process of propagation called bunrei (分霊) or kanjō (勧請).

The point of origin of the Kumano cult is the Kumano Sanzan shrine complex in Wakayama Prefecture, which comprises Kumano Hayatama Taisha (熊野速玉大社) (Shingū, Wakayama), Kumano Hongū Taisha (Tanabe, Wakayama) and Kumano Nachi Taisha (Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture).

Origins

A Kumano shrine

The three Kumano Sanzan shrines are the Sōhonsha ("head shrines") of all Kumano shrines and lie between 20 and 40 km from each other. They are connected to each other by the pilgrimage route known as Kumano Kodō (熊野古道). The great Kumano Sanzan complex also includes two Buddhist temples, Seiganto-ji and Fudarakusan-ji.

Kumanokusubi, the fifth and youngest child of Amaterasu is sometimes linked to Kumano Gongen The deity's name, Kusubi (Kusuhi), is thought to mean "strange spirit" (mysterious divine spirit) or "strange fire. The current deity of Kumano-taisha is "Kumano Oyagami Kushimitama no Mikoto (熊野大神櫛御気野命)," but there is a theory that the original deity was Kumanokusubi. There is a theory that the deity of Kumano Nachi Taisha, Kumanokusubi, is Izamiami, but this is also believed to be a reference to Kumanokusubi.

The religious significance of the Kumano region goes back to prehistoric times and therefore predates all modern religions in Japan. The area is still considered a place of physical healing. Each shrine initially had its own separate form of nature worship. In the 10th century, under the influence of Buddhism, the three came to be worshiped together as the three deities of Kumano. Because at the time Japanese kami were believed to be emanations of buddhas (honji suijaku theory), the three came to be associated with Buddhas. Kuniyasutamahime became associated with Sahasrabhūja Avalokiteśvara (Senju Kannon, "Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara"), Bhaisajyaguru (Yakushi Nyōrai) and Amitābha (Amida Nyōrai).

Kumano Gongen refers to the deities of the Three Kumano Mountains, especially focusing on the main deities: Ketsumiko (Susanoo), Hayatama (Izanagi), and Musubi (also written as Fusubi or Musubi, or "Yui" for Izanami), collectively known as the Kumano Sanjo Gongen. In addition to these, other deities are also included, referred to as the Kumano Jūniso Gongen. The site became a unique example of shinbutsu-shūgō, the fusion between Buddhism and Japanese indigenous religion.

The Three Kumano Mountains consist of Kumano Hongū Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha. Initially, they developed separately; Hongū was established during the reign of Emperor Suinin, Hayatama during Emperor Keikō's reign (according to the Fusang Jijin), and Nachi during Emperor Kōshō's reign, with the foundation involving a practice called naked pilgrimage (also "naked form") , though this is uncertain. In official histories, the names of the deities can be confirmed in documents from 806, with a record from 766 mentioning that four households were dedicated to the Hayatama and Kumano Musubi deities, indicating that these two deities were worshipped together in what is today Shingu, known as Kumano Shinson.

Nachi Falls

By the mid-9th century, the deity was simply called Kumano Imasu Kami, and the main deity of Hongū, previously unclear, began to be called Ketsumiko or Shōshō Bosatsu, along with New Musubi and Hayatama, establishing the tradition that Ketsumiko was an ancient Kumano deity ("Kumano Gongen Suijaku Engi", included in "Chōkan Kanmon" ).

The Kumano Sanzan site attracted many worshipers and became a popular pilgrimage destination. In the 11th century, pilgrims were mostly members of the imperial family or aristocrats, but four centuries later they were mostly commoners. The visit was referred to as the "Kumano ant pilgrimage" (蟻の熊野参り, Ari no Kumano mairi), because they could be seen winding through the valleys like so many ants.

Moreover, the "Chūyūki" entry for October 26, 1109, not only lists these three deities but also mentions Goshodenji, Ichiman Kenzoku, Jūman Kongō Dōji, Kanjō Jūgoso, Hikō Yasha, and Meiji Kongō Dōji, and the pilgrimage records of Toba-in and Taikenmon'in (included in "Chōshūki") from February 1, Longsheng 3 year, list the twelve Gongen and their original Buddhas, showing that by this time, the Kumano Sanjo Gongen and Jūniso Gongen were established . Nachi, differing in nature from Hongū and Hayatama and known as a sacred place for waterfall asceticism, initially had Izanami as the main deity, but by the early Kamakura period, the "Kumano Gongen Kongō Zōjō Hōden Constructing Merits Diary" included tales related to the worship of the Twelve Gongen, indicating that by this time, the deities of Hongū and Hayatama were also enshrined there. Thus, by the end of the 12th century, the three mountains had unified by worshipping each other's deities .

Kumano Gongen

Each of the Three Mountains is considered to represent a different pure land: Hongū represents the Western Paradise, Shingu represents the eastern pure land of Lapis Lazuli, and Nachi represents the Southern Potalaka. From the Heian period onward, Kumano as a whole came to be regarded as a land of the Pure Land.

There is a 12 deity version, and a three deity version with Amitabha Bhaisajyaguru and Sahasrabhuja The Nachi Falls is said to be the thirteenth member.

At Kumano Hongū Taisha and Kumano Hayatama Taisha, twelve deities are enshrined as follows.

Kumano Twelve Shrines Gongen

Shrine Pavilion					Deity	Original Buddha	Statue Type
Upper Four Shrines	Three Shrines Gongen	Both Shrines Gongen	First Pavilion	Nishi-no-miya (Yui-miya)	Izanami-no-Mikoto・Kumano Musubi Okami・Kotoamatsukami	Sahasrabhuja	Feminine Form
			Second Pavilion	Chū-no-miya (Hayatama Myōjin)	Izanagi-no-Ōkami・Hayatama no Okami	Bhaisajyaguru	Secular Form
		Shōjō Gongen	Third Pavilion	Jōsō (Ketsumi Ōji)	Susanoo-no-Mikoto・Ketsumi Mikoto Okami	Amitabha	Dharma Form
	Five Shrines Princes		Fourth Pavilion	Wakamiya	Amaterasu-ōmikami (Nyakuichiōji)	Ekādaśamukha	Feminine Form
Middle Four Shrines			Fifth Pavilion	Zenji-miya	Ame-no-oshihomimi	Ksitigarbha	Dharma Form (or Secular Form)
			Sixth Pavilion	Sei-miya	Ninigi-no-Mikoto	Nagarjuna	Dharma Form
			Seventh Pavilion	Ko-miya	Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto	Cintāmaṇicakra	Dharma Form
			Eighth Pavilion	Komori-miya	Ugayafukiaezu	Āryāvalokiteśvara	Feminine Form
Lower Four Shrines	Four Shrines Myōjin		Ninth Pavilion	Ichiman-miya・ Jūman-miya	Kagu-tsuchi・	Manjushri・Samantabhadra	Secular Form
			Tenth Pavilion	Meiji Kongō	Haniyasu-hime-no-Mikoto	Vaishravana	Secular Form
			Eleventh Pavilion	Flying Yasha	Mizuhanome-no-Mikoto	Acala	Yasha Form
			Twelfth Pavilion	Kanjō Jūgosho	Wakumusubi-no-Mikoto	Gautama Buddha	Secular Form

At Kumano Nachi Taisha, "Taki-miya" (deity Ōkuninushi-no-Mikoto (Takinawa Gongen), original Buddha Thousand-Armed Kannon) is considered the first pavilion, and the order descends one pavilion at a time, enshrining the eight deities of the Middle Four Shrines and the Lower Four Shrines in the sixth pavilion (Hassha-den), thus known as the "Thirteen Shrines Gongen".

See also

• Kasuga no Kami
• Kumano Shrine (Yamagata)
• The Tale of the Heike
• Acts of Worship

References

• Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). Japanese Buddhism — A Cultural History (First ed.). Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. pp. 232 pages. ISBN 4-333-01684-3.
• Breen, John, Mark Teeuwen (editors) (July 2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2363-4. OCLC 43487317. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)

References

• D. Max Moerman, Localizing Paradise: Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan. Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN 0674013956
• Moerman, David (1997). The ideology of landscape and the theater of state: Insei pilgrimage to Kumano (1090–1220), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 24 (3-4), 347-374

External links

• Japanese Wikipedia article "ja:熊野神社

ja:熊野神社|en]]]" accessed on June 12, 2008

• Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau Archived 2011-09-25 at the Wayback Machine

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References

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