Day 31: No.78 Gosho-ji (郷照寺)

Marugame castle

As I entered Marugame City, I saw some nostalgic place names such as Utatsu and Sakaide, where I had probably been here when I was child.

Old rice cake shop that sells Jizo mochi

Jizo Mochi – A grass rice cake with sweet bean paste inside

By the time I reached Gosho-ji, I thought I’d have some udon as a snack, but I didn’t find any. However, I found old rice cake shop that sold Jizo Mochi before arriving Gosho-ji, so I bought some. It was a chewy rice cake wrapped with sweet bean paste and was delicious.

The main gate of No.78 Gosho-ji

The bell-tower

The main temple of No.78 Gosho-ji

Approach to the main temple has colorful ceiling with flower carvings

Gosho-ji is located on a hill, and when I looked carefully, I could see the Seto-Ohashi Bridge over there. The ceiling of the main temple and Taishi-do is decorated with flower carvings, which is quite beautiful.

Taishi-do

The entrance to the underground hall for ten thousand Kannon

Ten thousand Kannon

There is a cave under Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) statue, with a huge number of small Kannon statues in the space.

At the foot of Gosho-ji, an old atmospheric townscape is kept

At the foot of Gosho-ji, there is an old atmospheric townscape, which seems to have been carefully preserved under the name “co-machi (古町)”.

The temple stamp of No.78 Gosho-ji

Dedicated toAmida-Nyorai (阿弥陀如来)
Founded byGyoki-Bosatsu (行基菩薩)
DenominationJi-sect (時宗)
Mantraおん あみりた ていせい からうん
On Amirita Teisei Karaun
Next templeNo.79 Tenno-ji (5.9 Km away)
Previous templeNo.77 Doryu-ji (7.2 Km away)
No.78 Gosho-ji