Temple 12 Shosanji means "Burning Mountain Temple" and refers to an ancient legend about a fiery dragon that lived on the mountain and terrorized loca

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Temple 12 Shosanji means "Burning Mountain Temple" and refers to an ancient legend about a fiery dragon that lived on the mountain and terrorized local people by setting fire to the whole mountain. The legendary ascetic En no Gyoja, who possessed magic powers and is credited with being the founder of Shugendo, visited the mountain and suppressed the dragon and then founded the temple. A century later when Kobo Daishi visited, the mountain was once again in flames caused by the dragon and he successfully imprisoned the dragon in a cave. On the trail from the temple to the summit you can see the cave and also a statue of En no Gyoja. The temple is surrounded by massive Japanese cedars.

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Size: 4160px × 6240px
Location: Tokushima
Photo credit: © John Lander / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 12, burning, henro, japanese, mountain, pilgrim, pilgrimage, prefecture, shikoku, shosan-ji, shosanji, shugendo, temple, tokushima