Raw data
Kumedera is a small temple devoted to Yakushi, the Buddha of Healing, located in Kume, near Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture. Unusually large boulders form the foundation of the wooden pagoda. Kumedera may have been built by Prince Regent Shôtoku’s younger brother, Kume no Miko, in the late 7th century. Another theory is that it was the temple of the Kumebe clan, which served the Yamato court as palace guards, and built it within their living quarters. The Konjaku monogatari (Tales of Now and Then, c. 12th century), ascribes the founding to a mythical mountain hermit, Kume, who lost his power of flight when he saw a maiden washing clothes in a nearby river.
Sometime between 781 and 804, Kukai (Kobo Daishi), the founder of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism (Chinese: Zhenyan), discovered a copy of the Mahavairocana Sutra (Dainichi-kyô), stored in Kumedera’s 7-story pagoda (which no longer exists, having been replaced by an Edo-period pagoda, moved from Ninwaji in Kyoto). Unable to comprehend the Sanskrit in its entirety, Kukai decided to go to China to find a master and a Chinese translation. Kukai traveled with the official Japanese mission of 804, and studied under the Chinese monk Huiguo (Japanese: Keika) at Qinglong Monastery in Chang’an, returning to Japan in 806.
-Tamamura (1992: 162-163)
-Nihon chimei jiten (1998: 432)
-http://www.davidmoreton.com/echoes/daishi.html
-http://www.asukanet.gr.jp/asukahome/ASUKA2/ASUKATERA/kumedera.html
Src: Japan
Input by: Lizbeth Piel, Oct 12, 2009
Final data (and their sources)
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Kume-dera monastery, JP.
Lat 34.4849 Long 135.7900
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2009.
Google Map link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.4849+135.7900+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Kumedera%20monastery,%20JP)&ll=34.4849,135.7900&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Kume-dera 久米寺. Alternative English spelling: Kumedera
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- Japan: Nara Prefecture
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
[missing data]
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Approx., Lat 34.4849 Long 135.7900 - visual identification in maps.google.com - tmc, 5 Dec 209.
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
- Kashihara-shi (Kashihara City), Kume
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
- Unebiyama. Note: the town of Kashihara was created in 1956, when several smaller villages were merged. - Nihon chimei jiten (1998: 296, 432).
- Kashiwabara - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/JA/28/Kashiwara.html
- Kashihara - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/JA/28/Kashiwara.html
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Exactly, Lat 34.4500 Long 135.7667 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/JA/28/Kashiwara.html
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
- Mahayana
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
- Shingon sect, starting in the Heian period (794-1185)
11. Date-early
- Tile designs indicate late 7th century. – http://www.asukanet.gr.jp/asukahome/ASUKA2/ASUKATERA/kumedera.html
12. Date-intermediate
[missing data].
13. Date-late
[missing data]
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
[missing data]
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
[missing data]
16. Additional notes
[missing data]
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
[missing data]
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