Ennoji Temple
Ennoji is a temple whose principal image is “Great King Enma.”
Buddhism is the "teaching" of Shakyamuni, who was born in India about 2,500 years ago and became a “Buddha” to preach the Law for people to become happy.
Before the Buddha, people in India believed that after death, the guilty would be reborn in “hell” and the innocent in “Yama's paradise” according to the judgment of “Yama,” the king of the underworld.
Later, when Buddhism was introduced to China, “Yama” was translated as “Enma.”
In Japan, the concept of the underworld derived from Buddhism spread widely in the late Heian period, and Great King Enma came to be thought of as an incarnation of Jizo Bodhisattva.
The samurai warriors of the Kamakura period also worshipped the god, and the common people began to repent to “Great King Enma” and ask for forgiveness and for Jizo Bodhisattva to guide them to the heavenly realm.
Even today, small stone Buddhist images are enshrined at the entrances to towns and their four corners.
Most of them are “Jizo Bodhisattva.”
“Great King Enma” in Ennoji is believed to accept people’s repentance, and “Jizo Bodhisattva” is believed to guide people to the heavenly realm after death.
