Chion-in Temple in Kyoto Starts Service to Celebrate the 850th Anniversary Since Buddhist Jodo Sect’s Founding

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:17 JST, April 10, 2024

Chion-in in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, the head temple of the Jodo sect, began a service Tuesday to celebrate the 850th anniversary since the sect’s founding.

The service is scheduled to be held through Sunday. Honen founded the Jodo sect in 1175.

During the first service held on Tuesday in the temple’s Mieido Hall — a national treasure — Buddhist monks walked inside the hall where a wooden statue of Honen is enshrined, chanting a Buddhist invocation called nenbutsu.

Koga Nakamura who led Tuesday’s service said: “Now is the time for people to honor nenbutsu. I hope people can attain peace of mind [by chanting nenbutsu].”