Kurama-dera Temple

Located at Mount Kurama, north of Kyoto, Kurama-dera is a unique, mystical temple steeped in folklore. It is best-known for its legends of the Tengu, a mythical race of demigod demons.

Allegedly founded in 770 AD, even the story of its origin deals with supernatural beings. The founder, high monk Gantei, saw Mount Kurama in his dreams one day and set out to find it, only to be attacked by a demoness. She was killed by a falling tree, however, and Gantei found a statue of a warrior god Vaiśravana on the spot. He founded a temple there and dedicated it to Vaiśravana.

Despite its ancient origins, the temple is more New Age than traditional Buddhist today. Since 1947, the temple’s main worship is a trinity consisting of Vaiśravana, the Thousand-Armed Kannon, and Go’ō-Ma’ō-son (“guardian devil king deva”); the latter refers to Sanat Kumara, a mystical entity that “came to earth from Venus 650 million years ago.”

At Kurama, Sanat Kumara is depicted as a winged, bearded elder with a long nose, not dissimilar to the traditional depiction of the Tengu. Though this association may not be so old, the Tengu have long been said to dwell on Mount Kurama.

Most notably, the Great Tengu of Kurama is famed as the mentor figure to Ushiwaka-maru, as 12th-century samurai lord Minamoto no Yoshitsune was known as a boy. This legend has inspired many works of fiction, including the 15th-century Noh play Kurama Tengu. The Sojo-ga-dani, a wooded valley where the Great Tengu is said to have trained Yoshitsune, survives today as part of the hiking trail from Kurama-dera.