四国八十八箇所Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage

The Shikoku Pilgrimage (四国遍路, Shikoku Henro) or Shikoku Junrei (四国巡礼) is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long history, large numbers of pilgrims, known as henro (遍路), still undertake the journey for a variety of ascetic, pious, and tourism-related purposes. The pilgrimage is traditionally completed on foot, but modern pilgrims use cars, taxis, buses, bicycles, or motorcycles, and often augment their travels with public transportation. The standard walking course is approximately 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) long and can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days to complete.

In addition to the 88 "official" temples of the pilgrimage, there are 20 bekkaku (別格) temples, which are officially associated with the Shikoku Pilgrimage (and hundreds more bangai (番外) temples, simply meaning "outside the numbers", which are not considered part of the official 88). To complete the pilgrimage, it is not necessary to visit the temples in order; in some cases, pilgrims complete the journey in reverse, a practice known as gyaku-uchi (逆うち).

Henro (遍路) is the Japanese word for pilgrim, and the locals along the route address the pilgrims as o-henro-san (お遍路さん).

Text from Wikipedia: Shikoku Pilgrimage — CC BY-SA 4.0. Read more on Wikipedia →