Zentsuji Garan (Eastern Precinct)

About the Zentsuji Garan

The Zentsuji Garan (Eastern Precinct) at Zentsuji-cho, Zentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture, is the original ground of Zentsuji, said to have been founded by Kukai in 807; six of its structures from the Edo to Taisho periods, the Shakado Hall, bell tower, Minami-daimon and Nakamon gates, and Tenjin and Ryuo shrines, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on November 2, 2009 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Zentsuji).

According to Zentsuji, its precinct of about 45,000 square metres is divided into the eastern Garan, lined with the Main Hall and Five-Storied Pagoda, and the western Tanjoin centred on the Founder's Hall. The eastern precinct is the temple's original ground, said to have been founded by Kukai in 807 after his return from China.

The temple records that the original halls burned in 1558 and were rebuilt with the support of the Ikoma and Kyogoku lords of Sanuki and others.

Six Structures

At the centre of the south side, facing the Main Hall, stands the Minami-daimon Gate of about 1908, a flat karamon with cusped gables worthy of the temple's main entrance. At the centre of the west side, the late Edo Nakamon Gate faces the Shakado Hall, a residential-style hall built in the 1670s and moved here in 1831 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

South-west of the Main Hall, the late Edo bell tower keeps traces of having been a bell gate. North-east of the hall, the Tenjin Shrine of 1914 is enclosed by a stone fence and torii, and on a pond islet in the north-west stands the Ryuo Shrine of 1808, a rain-prayer shrine carved with clouds and waves (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting and Location

According to Zentsuji, the precinct is open all year; the Main Hall is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the stamp office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The visitors' car park, west of the precinct, holds up to 350 vehicles.

The address is 3-622 Zentsuji-cho, Zentsuji City. Zentsuji is Temple 75 of the Shikoku pilgrimage (Kagawa Prefecture Tourism Association), and its precinct is part of the Sanuki Pilgrimage Route National Historic Site (Zentsuji). The 19 registered structures of the western precinct, centred on the Founder's Hall, are gathered on the group page Zentsuji Tanjoin Temple.