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Hokke-ji is a Buddhist temple located in the Hokkeji neighborhood of the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is the head temple of the 光明宗 sect after the temple's founder, Empress Kōmyō. The honzon of the temple is a statue of Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), which is a designated National Treasure.
The site of Hokke-ji Temple was originally the residence of Fujiwara no Fuhito, and after his death, his daughter Empress Kōmyō, inherited it and made it the Imperial Palace. Per the Shoku Nihongi, empress made it into a temple in May 745; however, was only two years later, in 747, that the name "Hokke-ji Temple" appears in historical documentation. There are many unknowns about the details of the founding of the temple, and about the kokubun-niji system itself, including the locations of many of the nunneries, or even if they were all actually constructed. Hokke-ji itself, despite its imperial connections and prestige, took a long time to complete, and it was not until 782 that the government office responsible for its construction abolished. Archaeological excavations have revealed that the temple grounds occupied a three by two Chō area, or one full city block in the city plan of Heijō-kyō, and that it bordered the Togu Palace of the Heijō Palace grounds. The original main hall and lecture hall were located further south of the current temple's South Gate, and to the south of the main hall was a Middle Gate and two Japanese pagoda south of that. Furthermore, in the southwestern part of the grounds was a sub-temple, the Amida Jōdō-in, which (per the Shoku Nihongi) had an 18-foot tall Amida triad as its honzon, and which was where the first anniversary services after the death of Empress Kōmyō was held in 761.
After the capital was relocated to Heian-kyō Hokkke-ji gradually declined, and it was in considerable disrepair by the end of the Heian period. It was damaged in 1180 during Taira no Shigehira's Siege of Nara, but was restored by the monk Chōgen in 1203. A Kamakura period head of the Vairocana Buddha at the temple is believed to be a surviving portion of the honzon statue of that time. Towards the end of the Kamakura period, the temple was restored by Eison and converted to the Shingon Ritsu sect. In the Sengoku period, the temple was burned in 1499 and 1506 by military conflicts, and was also severely damaged by the 1596 Keichō–Fushimi earthquake. The current Main Hall and South Gate were rebuilt in 1601 by Toyotomi Hideyori and his mother, Yodo-Dono, and was the bell tower in 1602. During the Edo period, the temple once again became a monzeki nunnery, when Emperor Go-Mizunoo's adopted daughter Takanori took holy orders. The East Pagoda of the temple collapsed in the 1707 Hōei earthquake. In 1999, the temple reverted to its original status as an independent temple and left the Shingon RItsu sect to become head temple of the Komyō sect, named after Empress Komyō.
The temple houses numerous National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. The precincts of Hokke-ji, including the remains of the Amida Jodo-in, were designated a National Historic Site in 2001, with the area under protection expanded in 2015. The remains of a Pure Land garden with a pond have been discovered at the remains of Amida Jodo-in, which the oldest known garden of this kind in Japan. It is also protected as a Nationally Designated PLace of Scenic Beauty.
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