Mizukake Fudo 水掛不動尊

Official explanation

The stone statue on a rock within this sanctuary depicts Fudo Myo-o, one of the Five Wisdom Kings and a central deity in Shingon Buddhism, the school to which Ninnaji belongs. He wields a sword in his right hand and a noose in his left, ready to unleash his anger on demons and other enemies of Buddhism. As is customary for images of Fudo, the statue has a halo of flames and a sturdy rock base, which is said to represent the determination of Fudo Myo-o (fudo means “immovable”). Mizukake means “to pour water” and the long ladles provided are used to pour water onto the statue before saying prayers.

According to legend, the statue was discovered in a flooded Kyoto river sometime during the Edo period (1603–1868) when a bystander heard it call for help. Once out of the water, the deity asked to be taken to Ninnaji, where it was placed on a rock next to a spring. The water from that spring is now gathered in the basin in front of the statue.

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.