Daishoin: Sanki Daigongen 大聖院: 三鬼大権現

Official explanation

Sanki Daigongen (“Three Great Oni Gongen”) are a group of deities sometimes called “the Awesome Forest Deities of Mt. Misen.” An oni is an ogre-like being regarded as having divine qualities, while a gongen is a Buddha manifested as a Shinto deity. The trio consists of Tsuicho Kishin, an oni version of Dainichi, the supreme Buddha of the cosmos; Jibi Kishin, a manifestation of the bodhisattva Kokuzo; and Mara Kishin, the oni form of Fudo Myo-o, one of the Five Wisdom Kings of Buddhism. Unique to Miyajima, these deities contain elements of three belief traditions: ancient mountain asceticism, in which Mt. Misen itself and various features on it were worshiped as deities, esoteric Shingon Buddhism, and Shinto conceptions of divinity. As such, Sanki Daigongen are a reminder of how ancient folk beliefs, Shinto, and Buddhism, now thought of as separate, were indivisibly linked in Japan for more than a thousand years.

For centuries, the three deities were enshrined together at a sanctuary along the path to the summit of Mt. Misen. The fusion of Shinto and Buddhism practiced at this site, however, officially came to an abrupt end in 1868, when the new government of Emperor Meiji (1852–1912) ordered the separation of the two traditions. The Sanki Daigongen sanctuary was renamed Miyama Shrine and was dedicated anew to the three Shinto goddesses worshiped at Itsukushima Shrine, while the Awesome Forest Deities were moved to a separate, smaller building closer to the peak. Called Sankido Hall, this structure remains well maintained and visited, demonstrating the enduring popularity of Miyajima’s Shinto-Buddhist ogre gods.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.