Shōsanji
"Burning Mountain Temple"
Phew, geez that was a long climb. Shōsanji is the first of the mountain temples and it was definitely very different from the flatland walking. As hard as the climb was though, it just made the view all the more spectacular and the accomplishment more fulfilling.
The name, meaning Burning Mountain Temple, refers to a legend. It is said that En no Gyōja, a wanderer, came to the mountain, subdued a dragon and founded the temple. A hundred years later Kobo Daishi came to the temple and found the dragon had come back to terrorize the people. He managed to seal the dragon in a cave and carved 2 statues to guard the entrance.
It's a cool temple and I definitely liked hearing the legend of the dragon.
I think we've rested long enough, time to head back down and towards the next temple (hopefully the trip down will be a bit easier).
