Seigantoji Temple Three-storied Pagoda and Nachi Waterfall [Wakayama]

【Summary】

Seigantoji Temple is a Tendai sect temple located on Mt. Nachi. This site has a long history as a sacred place of Kumano worship. Originally a major shugendo (ascetic practice) center centering on Nachi Falls, the temple was separated into Seigantoji Temple and Nachi Taisha Shrine in accordance with the policy of separating Shintoism and Buddhism in the early Meiji period (1868-1912). The Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha are known as the Kumano Sanzan (three mountains of Kumano), and Aogishidoji is included among them.

It is now registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

2023年7月16日 Kumano Nachi Taisya [Wakayama]

2023年7月16日 Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine [Wakayama]

2023年7月16日 Large Torii of Oosaihara, Kumano Hongu Taisha Shrine [Wakayama]

【premises】

Kumano Nachi-taisha Shrine is located right next to Seigando-ji Temple on Mt. Nachi, both of which are World Heritage sites. Aogishidoji, with its sense of withered history, and the vermilion-lacquered Nachi-taisha Shrine, which looks like a power spot, create a very mysterious collaboration. What is now considered the main hall of the temple is the Nyoirindo from that time.

【scenery】

The three-story pagoda was destroyed by a typhoon during the Edo period (1603-1867), and the present pagoda was rebuilt in 1972 (Showa 47).

The view of Nachi Falls and the sea of Kumano-nada from the fourth floor elevator, from which you pay an admission fee of 300 yen, is magnificent. Nachi-no-Taki is a large waterfall that flows from the Oundori mountain range deep in the Nachi Mountains, and there are said to be as many as 48 waterfalls in the entire mountain range, of which Nachi-no-Taki has the largest drop.

【Access】