Muroji Temple

Muroji Temple: seven designated buildings scattered up a mountainside

Muroji Temple (室生寺, Murō-ji) is the head temple of the Murōji branch of the Shingon school in Muro, Uda City, Nara Prefecture, founded in the late Nara period as the shrine-temple of the dragon-cave deity of Muro, with seven buildings designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties, among them a Main Hall built in 1308.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the founding to roughly 780 to 782. The temple occupies the north bank of the Muro River, running up the foot and lower slopes of Mount Muro. Its buildings do not share a single courtyard. They stand on six separate terraces at different heights, linked by stone stairways. Walking Muroji Temple means climbing, and picking up one building at a time as you go.

Nara Prefecture records that the temple was founded in the late Nara period by Kenkei of Kofukuji, who prayed for the recovery of the crown prince later enthroned as Emperor Kanmu, and that his disciple Shuen gave the precinct the shape it has now. After a long decline it was rebuilt in the Genroku era of the Edo period under the patronage of Keishoin, mother of the fifth Tokugawa shogun Tsunayoshi. From about that time Muroji Temple admitted women, while Kongobuji on Mount Koya, of the same Shingon school, still barred them. That is the origin of the temple's other name, Nyonin Koya, the Mount Koya for women.

How the precinct is laid out

The way in to Muroji Temple is a vermilion arched bridge over the Muro River. Turn right after crossing, pass the front gate of the abbot's quarters, and the ticket office comes up on the left, with the Nio Gate beyond it.

Through the gate a broad stairway of rough natural stone rises straight ahead. This is the Yoroizaka. The terrace at the top holds two buildings side by side: the Golden Hall, which pushes out over the slope facing southeast, and the Miroku Hall to its southwest, facing east.

More steps lead to the next terrace and the Main Hall, also called the Kanjodo. A short distance west of it, among trees, stands a stone five-ring stupa; behind it another flight of steps climbs to the terrace where the five-storied pagoda stands. That is as far as the ordinary route runs in an unbroken line.

From the left of the pagoda a long stairway continues to the Okunoin, the inner sanctuary, where the Goeido and a memorial hall occupy a small clearing. Most visitors turn back here. The seventh designated structure, the sutra pagoda, sits on the summit of Nyoi-ga-mine, away from the visitor route.

Three National Treasures and four Important Cultural Properties

Among the buildings of Muroji Temple, the Golden Hall, the Main Hall (Kanjodo) and the five-storied pagoda are National Treasures. The Miroku Hall, the Goeido, the five-ring stupa and the sutra pagoda are Important Cultural Properties. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database also records an Important Cultural Property designation date for each of the three National Treasures, showing that they were first listed between 1897 and 1901 and raised to National Treasure status in 1951 and 1952.

The seven are widely separated in date. The pagoda and the Golden Hall belong to the early Heian period, the sutra pagoda to the late Heian, the Miroku Hall to the early Kamakura, the Main Hall to 1308, and the Goeido and the five-ring stupa to the early Muromachi period. Roughly eight centuries of building are stacked on one hillside.

Sculpture and painting at Muroji Temple carry their own designations. The wall painting on the screen behind the altar of the Golden Hall, a standing Shaka Nyorai, a standing eleven-headed Kannon and a seated Shaka Nyorai are all National Treasures, and a long list of statues and ritual objects are Important Cultural Properties. Several of the statues moved in 2020 into a purpose-built treasure hall, the Homotsuden.

Getting to Muroji Temple

The nearest station to Muroji Temple is Murouguchi-Ono on the Kintetsu Osaka Line. Nara Prefecture's guidance is to take the Nara Kotsu bus bound for Muroji from the station, ride to the last stop, and walk 5 minutes.

Buses are infrequent, and the prefecture asks visitors to check the timetable on the Nara Kotsu website before setting out rather than relying on the train schedule alone. Arriving between buses can mean a long wait at the station.

The temple address is 78 Muro, Uda City, Nara Prefecture, and the telephone number for enquiries is 0745-93-2003.

Hours, admission and photography

Muroji Temple is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. between April 1 and November 30, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. between December 1 and March 31. The Homotsuden treasure hall opens from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in winter, with last admission at 3 p.m.

Admission is 600 yen for junior high school students and older and 400 yen for elementary school students. Groups of 30 or more pay 500 yen and 300 yen. The Homotsuden costs a further 400 yen at a flat rate. These are the figures published by Nara Prefecture's official tourism site; check current terms with the temple.

On photography the prefecture is explicit. Photographing Buddhist statues is prohibited, and visitors are asked to point a camera at nothing in the precinct other than buildings, plants and scenery. Exteriors of the halls and pagodas are therefore fair game.

There are ramps at the ticket office and beside the adjacent toilet, and one accessible toilet. Beyond that, Muroji Temple gains its height by stairs, no wheelchairs are lent, and the climb to the Okunoin is long.

Seasons and observances

Muroji Temple is known for rhododendron. From mid-April to mid-May roughly 3,000 plants flower along both sides of the path from the Nio Gate up the Yoroizaka to the pagoda. Nara Prefecture's tourism site notes a tradition that these were transplanted from Mitsue village by parishioners in the early Showa period.

Autumn colour runs from mid-November to early December, and the temple holds an evening illumination, which is unusual for shrines and temples in the prefecture. In both flowering and autumn seasons an extra bus service links Hasedera and Muroji Temple.

A memorial service for Kobo Daishi is held on the 21st of every month, when the image of Kobo Daishi in the Okunoin is shown.