Main Hall (Kondō) 金堂

The original Main Hall burned down in 1486. Rebuilding was delayed for more than a century due to a series of civil wars. The current structure was completed in 1603. The building is designated a National Treasure, while the statues of Yakushi Nyorai, the Twelve Heavenly Generals, and two attendant bodhisattvas are Important Cultural Properties.

Lower Daigo (Shimo-Daigo)

Kon-dō, The Golden Hall (National Treasure)

The Kon-dō, main hall or literally Golden Hall, is the central feature of the Shimo-Daigo area and a National Treasure. It was originally built in 926, but the structure burned down twice in the 600 years that followed. Especially the fire 1470 in the midst of the Ōnin War devastated larger areas of the temple. The current building was relocated by ship from another temple (Mangan-ji, Yuasa) on the Kii Peninsula on the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the great reconstruction period.

Due to this unusual relocation, the architecture features three style elements that are a unique combination of different periods of architectural history: original elements from the Heian period, repairs dating to the Kamakura period when the building stood on the Kii peninsula, and finally the reconstructions from the Momoyama period.

The hall also enshrines a Yakushi Nyorai triad, with the sun and moon Bodhisattvas Nikkō and Gekkō flanking him, with the addition of the Shitennō or Four Heavenly Kings, who all were part of the relocation from the south to the capital. They can be dated to the Kamakura period (1185–1333) due to their detailed and precise carvings and especially in case of the guardian figures their strong masculinity, whereas two of the guardians – Jikoku-ten and Zōchō-ten – may be later addition. The carver possibly belonged to the Zen atelier active around Nara, which general style resonated a gentler one leaning on the Heian period.

The hall serves as venue for regular sacral ceremonies, including the chanting of sutras, by monks and nuns of the monastery of Daigo-ji. The most famous ceremony is the one popularly called the Godairi-san on the 23rd of February, a tradition that can be traced back all the way to the year 907. Prior to the main day, the entire monastery with more than 1000 monks and nuns offers prayers in the hall open to the public for one week. The most spectacular part of the Godairi-san is the Mochiage, Mochi Lifting Competition, where men and women can challenge each other to lift and hold a huge mochi cake. Men hold a 150 kg piece, women a 90 kg piece, with the demonstration of strength in conjunction with the powerful protection of the Five Wisdom Kings being a combined prayer for health and physical strength.

Main Hall

The Kondo (Main Hall) is a building that once served as audience chamber for the emperor and venue for state ceremonies. At Ninnaji Temple the building serves as a place of worship. Its elegantly sloping roofline hints of its origins on the grounds of the imperial palace in central Kyoto. The court donated several buildings to Ninnaji in the 1600s, including the Kondo, and has maintained close ties with the temple for over a millennium. It received National Treasure status in 1953 as a representative example of centuries-old palace architecture.

Inside the hall, a gilded statue of the Amida Buddha presides over a row of religious sculptures, filling the space with its calm glow. A mural of the Pure Land of the West (Jodo) covers the wall behind the Buddha, offering worshippers an image of that paradise. Each of four buddhas resides in a pure land associated with a cardinal direction. Amida Buddha watches over the Pure Land of the West, also called Gokuraku.

The Main Hall, also called the Golden Hall, stands at the center of Ninnaji, which is designated a Historic Monument of Ancient Kyoto and protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kondo (Main Hall)

“Kondo” is one term for a temple’s primary hall of worship, which typically houses important objects of veneration. Kosanji’s Kondo enshrines Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni Buddha), the historical Buddha and founder of Buddhism. After the death of his parents at age eight, Myoe (1173–1232), who went on to found Kosanji, began to regard Shaka Nyorai as a father figure.

The original Kondo was completed in 1219, 13 years after Kosanji was founded. An old map showing the layout of the temple complex indicates that the first Kondo had an elaborate structure and was surrounded by several buildings. It is believed to have housed numerous treasures, including a piece by the master sculptor Unkei (1150–1223). However, the entire structure burned down in a fire in 1547, along with most of the buildings in the temple precinct.

In 1634, a building from Kyoto’s Ninnaji Temple was relocated to Kosanji and renovated, creating the Kondo that we see today. The newer building stands on the same site as the original.

The Kondō at the Temple of Chishakuin

The Kondō (main hall) sits at the physical and religious center of the temple of Chishakuin. The original structure was commissioned by Chishakuin’s tenth abbot Senkai in 1704 and was completed next year. The quick completion of such an ambitious project was made possible through a generous donation from Lady Keishōin (1627–1705), the mother of the fifth Tokugawa shogun Tsunayoshi. The patronage is indicative of the strong support the temple received from the Tokugawa house throughout the period when they governed the country (1603–1868).

The Kondō was destroyed by fire in 1882 and remained unrestored for almost a century. To commemorate the 1200th birthday of Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi, 774–835), the founder of Shingon Buddhism, the Kondō was rebuilt in 1975. The principal icon is a statue of Dainichi who is flanked on either side by the mandalas of the two words. Both Dainichi and the mandalas are central to Shingon Buddhist teachings.