A service celebrating the 850th anniversary of the founding of the Jodo sect began Tuesday at Kyoto’s Chion-in Temple.
13:17 JST, April 10, 2024
Chion-in in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward, the main temple of the Jodo sect, began a service on Tuesday to celebrate the 850th anniversary since the sect’s founding.
The service lasts until Sunday. Honen founded the Jodo sect in 1175.
During the first service held Tuesday in the temple’s Mieido Hall – a national treasure – Buddhist monks walked into the hall where a wooden statue of Honen is enshrined, chanting a Buddhist invocation called nenbutsu.
Koga Nakamura, who led Tuesday’s service, said: “This is the time for people to honor nenbutsu. I hope people can find peace of mind [by chanting nenbutsu].”
