Six! Six temples in one day! Wow!
Technically, Ehime has the most temples of any prefecture but Kagawa is smaller with almost as many so you can do a lot in a day.
Temple 70 was pretty but a bit sparse. It had an interesting bit of history though in that a lord tried to base his military here but a bleeding statue freaked out his men and they had to leave. Said statue was not available for viewing though.
71 was about some time Kukai spent training in a cave. The place is high up so it’s another testimony to the inevitability of stairs in an ohenro’s life. The daishido hall and the stamp office were combined in one rather stunning building though.
Temple 72 and 73 were compounds very close together and about his family ties. 73 was originally up a mountain where Kukai threw himself off of as a child but the story goes he was saved by a great spirit. It’s very small compared to others but the woman in the stamp office was really kind and giving. Plus, I don’t think you have to be big to be a great place either.
Which brings me to 74 and 75. What a contrast! 74, again, lovely and small and well cared for and beautiful. And based on this I was not ready for the immensity of 75.
Thankfully, I got to 75 early enough to have time to look around. This temple is based on the original family home and birth place of Kukai. It has a west and an east compound and at least a dozen or so halls. I am sorry this post won’t do it justice.
If you talk to me in real life, ask me about the woman whose house I stayed at that night because I just don’t have the time to do it here!
