Negoro-ji Temple

Temple

The Negoro-ji Temple, which is a mountain temple located on the slopes of Mt. Ao-mine, around 30 minutes’ drive from JR Takamatsu Station, is the 82nd temple of the Shikoku 88-temple Pilgrimage. According to tradition, the origins of the Temple lie in the Kezoin Temple that Kobo Daishi built to worship the Godai Myo-o (Five Great Wisdom Kings) of Ao-mine. Subsequently, a new temple, the Senju-in Temple, was established nearby to house the statue of the bodhisattva Kannon with “one thousand” arms that was carved by Chiso Daishi from an aromatic tree growing in the Renge-tani Valley; the two temples were combined to create what is now the Negoro-ji Temple. Particularly worth seeing are Kobo Daishi’s statue of the Godai Myo-o, the statue of an Gyuki (cow-headed devil) situated in a corner of the car parking area, and the approximately 33,000 statues of the bodhisattva Kannon arranged along a three-sided cloister just in front of the Hon-do (Main Hall). The path leading up to the Temple is lined by trees, and is a marvelous place to view autumn foliage in the autumn months.