Joruriji Temple

Joruri-ji is a Shingon Ritsu Buddhist temple in Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture. Its principal deities are Amida Nyorai and Yakushi Nyorai, and the name ‘Joruri-ji’ is said to derive from the ‘Eastern Pure Lapis Lazuli World’ (Tōhō Jōruri Sekai), the realm of Yakushi. The main hall enshrines nine Amida Buddhas, which is why it is also called a ‘Nine-Amida Temple’ (Kutaiji). While several such halls existed around Kyoto in the Heian period, Joruri-ji is the only surviving example. Across a pond said to be shaped like the Siddham letter ‘A,’ the three-story pagoda stands to the east and the main hall to the west, facing each other: the sun at the equinox rises behind the pagoda and sets behind the Amida in the hall, symbolically manifesting the eastern and western pure realms. The temple lies near the Kyoto–Nara border, and public access is generally easier from Nara: from Kintetsu Nara Station, take a Nara Kotsu bus for about 25 minutes and get off at ‘Joruri-ji Mae,’ right in front of the temple. About 2 km away, on the road to Gansen-ji, there are many stone Buddhas such as the Miroku Magaibutsu and ‘Laughing Buddha,’ known collectively as the Tono Sekibutsu-gun.