| Sugimoto-dera (大蔵山観音院杉本寺, Taizō-zan Kannon-in Sugimoto-dera) is a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the oldest temples in Kamakura and, together with Hōkai-ji, the only one of the Tendai denomination.[1] The temple is Number one of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage circuit.[1] Two of the three statues of goddess Kannon it enshrines are Important Cultural Properties.[1] Sugimotodera is nicknamed Geba Kannon ("Dismount Kannon"), because horsemen never failed to dismount from their steeds when they passed by.[2] (According to a different version of the legend, non-believers always fell from their horse when passing in front of the temple.)[3] The temple is a branch temple (末寺, matsuji) of Hōkai-ji.[4] |
