October
14, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)
OTSU -- The 41-year-old chief monk at Zenju-in of the Enryaku-ji
temple here -- head temple for the Tendai Buddhist sect -- began a
nine-day fast on Oct. 13 viewed as the most difficult part of the
"sennichi kaihogyo," or the "1,000-day walk" from the temple on
Mount Hiei to Kyoto.
Chief monk Kogen Kamahori will seclude himself in the Mudo-ji
temple's Myo-o Hall, also on Mount Hiei. He will not eat, drink or
sleep for nine days, committing the time to repeating the mantra of
Acala, a Buddhist deity, 100,000 times. Kamahori is the first
devotee to perform the acetic ritual in eight years, and is the
13th since the end of World War II.
The ritual begins on the 700th day of the 1,000-day walk, and if
completed, the monk is revered as an incarnation of Acala. On Oct.
13, Kamahori was led to Myo-o Hall by some 60 people, including
other monks who have completed the fast. Some 500 people gathered
to see Kamahori enter the hall.