Kyoto Festival: Bamboo Cutting Ritual at Kurama-dera (Takekirie)

A temple with an interesting history that can be traced back to a single hermitage founded by a Chinese monk in 770, Kurama-dera in northern Kyoto is nestled in the ancient forests and set partway up Mount Kurama. Formally a Tendai sect Buddhist temple, they formed their own school, Kurama-kōkyō, in 1947 in order to return to their roots. The object of worship at Kurama-dera is the trinity Sonten composed of Bishamonten, the Thousand-armed Kannon, and Gohōmaōson, who are said to be a power of decending from