Nara » Yoshino, Tenkawa-mura, Totsukawa
Also called Tenkawa Shrine, it is one of the three major Benzaiten shrines in Japan along with Itsukushima and Chikubushima. Benzaiten (Princess Ichikishimahime no Mikoto), Kumano Gongen, and Yoshino Gongen are enshrined here.
The shrine still retains the form of Shintoism and Buddhism, and the shrine at the foot of Mt. Misen, the highest peak in the Omine Mountains, was known as Yoshino-Kumano Nakamiya (because it is located in the middle of Yoshino and Kumano) or Yoshino-Sosha, the center of Omine Shugen.
It was once known as a gathering place for Shugenja (mountain ascetics) and high priests. Especially after Kobo-Daishi Kukai (1522-1591), many people came to the shrine to visit Omine and Koya.
Benzai Tenju, a water nymph, is also famous as a goddess of music and the performing arts. Even today, many worshippers are involved in the performing arts, and dedication of Noh plays, Noh masks, and Noh costumes performed at the Kanzeikai in Kyoto are also held here.
The annual festival attracts many visitors with dedications of Noh plays and performances by artists, along with Shinto rituals, Hannya Shinto sutras, and Kagura (Shinto music and dance).
The temple is also known as the place where the wandering monk Enku practiced asceticism, and Daikokuten, Enku’s masterpiece, is dedicated there. The statue of Daikokuten, with its gentle smile, is a symbol of peace and tranquility.
The temple was founded in the Asuka period (710-794) by Emperor Temmu and Enno Gyoja (Enno Shokaku), who enshrined a goddess enshrined in the Inner Shrine of Ise Jingu as Benzaiten, the Sun Goddess of the Heavenly Peace River.
The dance of Kikkoten in the sky above Emperor Temmu’s eyes has been handed down to the present as the Goseki-no-mai (Five Seasonal Dances), and is performed on every occasion of courtly celebrations.
Kukai practiced asceticism on Omine for three years prior to the founding of Koyasan, and his greatest ascetic practice was at Tenkawa Shrine.
Until the Edo period (1603-1868), the temple was called Biwasan Hakubyoji Temple, and its principal deity was Bensaiten (King Ugajin). However, during the Meiji period (1868-1912), Shiroiji Temple was closed due to the abolition of Buddhism, and Bensaiten was replaced by Ichikishimahime-no-mikoto.
There is an inner shrine (Yayama Shrine) at the summit of Yayama (1895m).