Mount Kōya

Mount Kōya – is a famous mountain of Japan, which is located in Wakayama Prefecture. The mountain is famous for the fact that temple buildings are located here, as well as numerous monasteries that are directly related to Buddhism.

The very first temple that appeared on the Koya-san mountain is the temple, erected by the Kukai monk back in 819. This building was among eight rock peaks. Nowadays, there are about a hundred different monasteries, which also have places for sleeping pilgrims.

To get to the temple complexes on the Koya-san mountain, you need to overcome the narrow serpentine that can catch up with adrenaline when entering the coolest turns. After such a trip, magnificent mountain landscapes open in front of tourists, which complement the fresh clean air and a particularly calm atmosphere. The local trees are simply countless years old, because they have the appearance of real giants. Some scientists say that they are at least 3 thousand years old.

Sometimes you can hear how Koya-san is led by a mountain of thousands of temples. But under the influence of repeated fires, as well as time, there are about a hundred of them.

There is a legend in which the appearance of such a number of temples among distant mountainous terrain is justified. In 774, Sikoku Kukai was born, who decided to become a monk in his young years. For ten long years he studied in China, as a result of which he became the first student with a spiritual mentor among all students. It is then that the idea arises for the young Sikoku Kukai to build a temple. He threw Kukai up the vajra and flew downwind after sea. Returning to Japan, he found her on Mount Koyu-san, where a huge cedar grew. It was in this quiet place high in the mountains and erected his temple in Kukai. And so the history of the temple complex began, because soon more and more sacred buildings began to appear here.

There are many other temple structures on Koya-san Mountain, including Okuno-in, Compon-Daito, Kongobu-ji.

The Reihokan Museum is also located here, which at first glance may seem very small, but retains about 8 percent of the national wealth of the entire vast country. Almost all of the exhibits of this museum were collected from the Koya-san temples, which were destroyed. Museum exhibits are various statues, paintings and many other objects.

A railway that stretches from Namba Station, which is located in Osakada, is approaching the mountain itself. The cable railroad to the peak of the mountain delivers visitors in just five minutes.