Kurama Temple Sutra Mound Relics

Deposits Spanning 140 Years, National Treasure since 1955

Kurama Temple Sutra Mound Relics (鞍馬寺経塚遺物, Kuramadera Kyozuka Ibutsu) are the finds from sutra mounds at Kuramadera in Kyoto Prefecture, designated a National Treasure in 1955, on 22 June. They had become an Important Cultural Property on 23 January 1933. The quantity is recorded as a single lot, the category archaeological materials, and the designation number 00019.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs gives the period as Heian to Kamakura and the date as 1120 to 1260. The span of 140 years arises because more than one of the sutra containers carries an inscription and the years differ.

The commentary is a single line, material of the Heian to Kamakura periods, but the itemised list runs to more than twenty entries. What it describes is not one deposit but repeated burials over a long period.

What the Itemised List Contains

The Agency's list reads as follows.

A stone reliquary pagoda, formerly standing on the mound; a bronze reliquary pagoda; an iron reliquary pagoda; a bronze sutra container with fragments of the scrolls; a fragment of a bronze sutra container; a lid of a bronze sutra container; a gilt bronze sutra container; a bronze sutra container in banner form; another fragment of a bronze container; an earthenware sutra container; a gilt bronze triad; a fragment of a repoussé gilt bronze bodhisattva plaque; hanging votive discs with fragments; a mirror image; bronze mirrors with fragments; a gilt bronze single-pronged vajra; a bronze water vessel; bluish-white porcelain boxes; an inkstone; a bronze door panel; bronze coins; and all other accompanying finds.

Seven of the entries are sutra containers. They divide by material into bronze, gilt bronze and earthenware, and one takes the unusual form of a banner. Fragments and a lid alone are counted as entries in their own right.

Three reliquary pagodas appear, of stone, bronze and iron. The stone one carries the note formerly standing on the mound: it was not buried but stood above ground as a marker.

What the Inscriptions Date

The inscribed pieces in the list are what fix the dates.

The bronze sutra container with scroll fragments is one lidded vessel, and its note records an inscription of the eleventh day of the ninth month of the first year of Hoan, naming Kiyohara no Nobutoshi, the priest Choi and others. That year is 1120, so the inscription gives the names of those who made the deposit.

A fragment of a bronze container carries a date in the third year of Jisho, 1179. Fifty-nine years separate the two inscriptions.

The Agency's range of 1120 to 1260 runs from the earliest inscription to the latest of the objects as estimated. Rather than a single burial in one mound, deposits were made again and again at intervals.

Objects Beyond the Burial of Sutras

The list also holds things not directly tied to the burial of scriptures.

The gilt bronze triad, the repoussé bodhisattva plaque, the hanging votive discs and the mirror image all represent buddhas. The single-pronged vajra is an esoteric ritual implement and the water vessel an offering vessel.

The bluish-white porcelain boxes are Chinese lidded containers, and the list continues with an inkstone, a door panel and coins. Everyday vessels, writing equipment and money are all inside the single lot.

The closing phrase, all other accompanying finds, covers what could not be itemised. The scope of the designation does not close with the list.

Seeing Them

The Agency's database leaves the location, holding institution and owner fields all blank. The present place of keeping cannot be read from the official record; the prefecture given is Kyoto.

Kuramadera has a treasure hall where the temple's holdings are shown. To see the objects, check the temple's information for any planned display.

Similar material comes from the Hanase Bessho sutra mounds, north of Hanase pass beyond the gate of Kuramadera. Those are finds from different mounds, under a separate designation and in different hands. The two should not be run together when consulting sources.

Kuramadera is reached on foot from Kurama Station on the Eizan Railway Kurama Line.