Cultural Assets－Sutra Mounds

Sutra mound #10. Dai-itoku-ji Temple is said to have been founded by En no Gyoja. On the temple grounds is a large stone engraved with bonji (Sanskrit) script. The Katsurei-zakki (a guidebook on Katsuragi Shugen published in 1850) mentions that a stone believed to be sutra mound #10 is found within the temple gate. The temple has been famous since the Edo Period (1603 to 1867) for its autumn foliage. The Izumi Meisho Zu-e (an illustrated guidebook published in 1796) tells how En no Gyoja first came here, trained under a waterfall, carved a statue of the Buddhist deity Fudoson (or Fudo Myo-o), and enshrined it here. The two-story pagoda on the precincts has been designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government.