無縁塚

2025.11.3 多くの無縁仏が集まっています 大きさに圧巻しました

奥の院の無縁塚です。弔う縁のいない人たちを供養するためのもので、無縁仏がピラミッドのように置かれていて、圧巻です。

少し外れた場所にありますが、ピラミッドのようになった形で目を引きます、有名な方だけでない方もお大師さんの側に入れると。

御廟から一番近い無縁塚です。

著名な偉人から一般人、そして名前も素性もわからない人すべてを受け入れる弘法大師の教えの象徴のような場所だと思いました。

Muen-zuka, the "Mound for the People of No Relatives," is a collective memorial dedicated to those who died without family, descendants, or social ties. In Japanese culture, the term muen refers to individuals who have no one left to remember them, pray for them, or tend their graves. The mound commemorates pilgrims who died on the road, monks without lineage, the poor and socially excluded, victims of disasters, and people whose names and personal histories have been lost. Its conical, earthen form recalls ancient burial mounds and is covered with thousands of small stone stupas and figures, many of them anonymous. Numerous statues are dressed in red bibs and caps, a color traditionally associated with protection and with Jizō Bosatsu, the bodhisattva who watches over children, travelers, and vulnerable souls. These garments symbolize not only children, but also fragility, transition, and compassion. In the Shingon Buddhist tradition practiced on Mount Kōya, no being should remain without prayer. Even those without family are not spiritually abandoned, as the monastic community assumes responsibility for their remembrance. Muen-zuka is therefore not a marginal element of Okuno-in, but an expression of its deepest ethical principle: collective compassion that extends to the unnamed and forgotten. This is not merely a historical site. New figures and offerings continue to be added, making Muen-zuka a living place of devotion. It left a strong impression on me.