is a Buddhist temple of the Sōtō

Soto

Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...

 Zen

Zen

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...

 sect located in Nagoya, central Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

History

Originally built in 1532 by Oda Nobuyuki

Oda Nobuyuki

was the son of Oda Nobuhide, and younger brother of Oda Nobunaga in the earlier years of the Sengoku period of the 16th century of Japan.Nobuyuki conspired against his brother Nobunaga with the Hayashi and Shibata families. Nobuyuki's Suemori Castle was reduced by Ikeda Nobuteru. Though Hayashi and...

 in memory of his father, Oda Nobuhide

Oda Nobuhide

was a warlord and magistrate of lower Owari Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. His father was Oda Nobusada and Nobuhide was the father of Oda Nobunaga.-Ruling the clan:...

, it was moved to its current location in 1714. The temple grounds have a turtle pond and a grove of giant bamboo. A 10-meter tall Buddha statue known as "The Great Buddha of Nagoya" was erected in 1987.

The temple has many links to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 as one of the high priests completed his studies there. The grounds contain a lingam

Lingam

The Lingam is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples....

 and a shrine dedicated to Saraswati

Saraswati

In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....

, who is honored in a festival to Benzaiten

Benzaiten

Benzaiten is the Japanese name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the 6th through 8th centuries, mainly via the Chinese translations of the Sutra of Golden Light, which has a section devoted to her...

 every May 7-8. Tōgan-ji also contains a huge wood block said to purge past sins if touched with one hand.

The closest subway is Motoyama Station

Motoyama Station (Aichi)

is a train station in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, JapanIt was opened on .The station provides access to Tōgan-ji which includes the Nagoya Daibutsu, Nagoya's large statue of Buddha...

 on the Higashiyama Subway Line

Higashiyama Line

The is a subway line, part of the Nagoya Municipal Subway system in Nagoya, Japan. Officially, the line is referred to as . It runs from Takabata, Nakagawa Ward to Fujigaoka, Meitō Ward, all within Nagoya. The Higashiyama Line's color on maps is Windsor yellow; its stations carry the letter H...

 and Nagoya University

Nagoya University

Nagoya University is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:...

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External links