Koyasan Cho-ishi-michi is a 24km mountain pilgrimage trail leading up to Koyasan mountain where 130 some temples stand in silence. Koyasan is a Shingon Esoteric Buddhism headquarter established by Kukai in 816. At the back of the Koya town lies Okuno-in, where Kukai is enshrined. Thick moss and large cedar trees cover this medieval cemetery, and walking through it, you wonder if the forests or the cemetery existed first. At dusk, the stone lantern along the cemetery are all lit, filling the place with serenity and silence. The so-called Five-ring stone stupa symbolises "Heaven, Air, Fire, Water, Earth". The same is used for the stone marker of Cho-ishi-michi Pilgrimage route standing every one cho (109m). Currently 180 original markers remain. The very first is at the Ji-son-in Temple, where Kukai's mother is worshiped. About 5km up is a shrine for Deity Nyutsuhime. The two that enshrine female figures at the beginning of the pilgrimage seems to give gentle air to this pilgrimage, although the mountain road is quite steep at places (also this blog 2008.12.12).
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