{Shikoku Hachijūhachikasho Meguri}

--WALKING--
--TEMPLE PROCEDURES--

After arriving at a temple there are five stops that need to be made if you want to do the pilgrimage "by the book." The stops are:

1. The gate at the entrance (Niōmon or Sanmon),
2. The ablution basin where you rinse your hands and mouth (Chōzubachi),
3. The Hondō, or main temple hall where you worship the enshrined deity (which varies from temple to temple - see the Temple Information section),
4. The Daishidō , or temple hall where you worship Kōbō Daishi,
5. The Nōkyōsho, or stamp book office, where you get you nōkyō book stamped.

To enter all but a few of the temple compounds you must pass through a gate and this is where you make the transition from the secular world to the sacred. The most common type is called the Niōmon and on each side is an enclosure housing a Niō guardian deity. These deities protect the temple from evil so many henro stop and make an offering to each of them. This is usually a ¥1, ¥5, or ¥10 coin, or a pinch of uncooked rice. If there are no Niō deities, then the gate is called the Sanmon (Mountain Gate).

While i never saw it while i was on the trail, a traditional henro can also make an offering at the Niōmon of a small pair of straw sandals. The sandals symbolize both strong feet and a safe journey so by making an offering of them the henro is praying that both will be granted.

At many temples you have to climb a set of stairs to get from the gate to the temple itself. The steps are usually made of stone so are called ishidan. In most cases (many cases?) the number of steps aren't important but in some cases it is significant. In these cases the steps may represent either yakudoshi or bonnō.

Yakudoshi are the ages that are considered as being especially dangerous for us. The age is different for men and women but when one reaches one of the dangerous years it is thought that you are vulnerable to sickness, business or personal faliure, other misfortunes, and even death. While the list of dangerous years is quite long (see Temple 23 information), the most dangerous year for men is 42 and for women is 33. Therefore you will see stairs that have that number of steps in them. For example, one side of the stairs going up to Temple 23 has 42 steps and men climb this side. On the other side of the stairs there are 33 steps and this is the side that women climb. If you are at the appropriate age, as you climb the appropriate steps it is traditional to place a ¥1 or ¥5 coin on each of the steps as an offering to the deities.

Bonnō stairs, on the other hand, represent the 108 worldly desires that Buddhists believe all humans are afflicted with no matter your age. At these temples there are 108 steps to climb but it is not necessary to place coins on each of the steps. Just by climbing the stairs, you symbolically eliminate one of the desires for each step you climb.

At the top of the stairs, or just inside the gate in the case of no stairs, you will see a small covered stand with water (chōzubachi), water ladles, and (frequently) hand towels. Wash your hands and rinse out your mouth to purify yourself before entering the temple compound. Instead of looking at this as an actual washing, think of it as more of a rinsing to remove the dust of the secular world. Don't wash your hands in the water; use a ladle to pour water over your hands outside of the water basin. Also, don't drink from the ladle; pour a little water into your now cleaned hands and sip from your palm.

After leaving the ablution basin, traditional henro would stop at the belfry (shōrō) and ring the bell to let Buddha and the temple's main deities know that they have arrived. However, i saw very, very few people actually do this. In addition, many temples have the striker tied up so that you can't ring it. If it is possible to ring the bell, be sure to do it when you enter the compound and not when you leave. Ringing the bell as you leave may shatter and spoil any enlightenment experience you might have had while at the temple.

Once purified, and once announced, start by visiting the Hondō. Offer a stick of incense in the appropriate sand-filled container (kōro) to venerate the deities and the dead. Then put a lighted candle with the others in the glass-enclosed, frequently orange or red colored, candle holder (rōsokutate) as an offering to the Buddha, Kōbō Daishi, and the dead. In the image to the right, the candle holder is the glass & silver box on 3' (1 m) legs at the far left. The incense burner is in the center with the smoke rising above it. The box for Ofuda is the silver box on the far right.

Next put an osamefuda (name card, and usually just called an Ofuda) in the box to the right or left of the temple door. The simplest Ofuda are slips of paper about 2" wide by 5" long (5 cm x 13 cm) and have space to write your name, address, the date, and any special prayers you have. In addition they will have a stamped image of Kōbō Daishi and the words Hōnō Hachijūhachi Reijō Junpai. Dōgyō Ninin, An Offering. 88 Sacred Sites Pilgrimage. We Two, Traveling Together. Some Ofuda may have the words Namu Daishi Henjō Kongō written on them. The more elaborate Ofuda will have the same information, but be slightly larger in size. In all cases, though, their purpose is both to identify yourself to Buddha and the deity of the temple and to memorialize your visit to the temple.

While the vast majority of the ofuda you will see are simply white and made of paper, they come in different colors and it is the color that signifies how many pilgrimages the henro has undertaken. The color scheme is: