The Chumon Gate
The Chumon Gate is located in front of the Kondo Hall of Mount Koya in
Wakayama Prefecture.
The main gate of Koyasan is the Daimon or Great Gate, and the gate of the
Danjo Garan is called the Chumon or Middle Gate.
It is said to have been built in 819.
Originally it was a torii-style gate which intended as a barrier marking the sacred precincts.
In 847, a gate was built by Kobo Daishi's disciple Jitsie.
It was subsequently burned down and rebuilt, becoming a five-bay, two-story
tower gate. It is known to have burned down three times during the Edo
period, and the foundation stones before the fire are buried underground.
After it burned down in 1843, there were only traces of the Chumon Gate
remained, with only the foundation stones exposed, but in 2015, as a special
event for the Great Ceremony commemorating the 1200th anniversary of the
founding of Mount Koya, the 8th gate was rebuilt for the first time in
172 years.
The two deities, Tamonten (Bishamonten Vaisravana) and Jikokuten ( Dhrtarastra
), enshrined in front were from the reconstruction in 1820. They escaped
destruction in the Tenpo fire and were stored in the Great Pagoda.
In 2015, the two deities were restored and Zochoten (Virudhaka ) and Komokuten
(Virupaksa ) were enshrined inside, completing the set of four gurdian
deities.
In 2017, to coincide with the great ceremony commemorating the 1200th anniversary
of the founding of Mount Koya, a "guest registry of buddhism connection"
filled with 65,044 people, including parishioners, who wished to form a
bond with Kobo Daishi, was placed in a room on the second floor of the
middle gate.
Take the Nankai Rinkan bus from Koyasan Station on the Nankai Koya Line
and get off at "Kondo-mae." There is a free parking lot in front
of the middle gate.
