Temple No. 14, Jorakuji Temple

The Joraku-ji Temple is a Koya-san Shingon Buddhist temple; its formal name is Seiju-zan Enmei-in. The Joraku-ji Temple is the 14th temple visited on the Shikoku 88-temple Pilgrimage; it is the only one of the 88 temples that is dedicated to the bodhisattva Maitreya. According to tradition, when Kobo Daishi was meditating in this area, he saw a vision of the Miroku-bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya), accompanied by numerous other bodhisattvas, expounding Buddhist doctrine; Kobo Daishi carved a statue of Maitreya in sacred wood, built a temple, and set up the statue as the main object of veneration in the temple. The temple was subsequently expanded by Kobo Daishi’s disciples Shinzen Sojo and Kishin Shonin. During the Tensho era (1573–1592), the temple was burnt down by the armies of Motochika Chosokabe; it was rebuilt in 1659 on the orders of Hachisuka Mitsutaka, the lord of the Tokushima domain. Within the temple grounds, there is a stone Buddha statue ensconced in the branches of a huge araragi (Japanese Yew) tree, which is venerated as “Araragi-Daishi.”