安産､子育てと達磨さん
Annual Temple Visit for Children（juusanmairi十三参り）
During the Edo period, there was a custom to bring a child to a special temple every year after birth until it was 13 (juusan). There was a different deity at each temple to introduce the child to and these 13 deities corresponded to the 13 benevolent deities that would later help the soul of the deceased to make its way through the various courts and judgements of hell, to have a good lawyer in the netherworld, so to speak.
To visit a different temple each year soon was too much for the busy people of Meiji times, so they cut it down to two visits, one after the birth and the last at age thirteen. There would soon be temples where the statues of all 13 deities were assembled to facilitate the visit. Since the main deity for the 13th visit was Kokuuzoo Bosatsu, his statue had to be the biggest. At Kakuon-ji temple in Kamakura, there is a cave with the statues of all these 13 deities well worth visiting.
It is said that the habit of this final temple visit started at the Hoorin-ji temple in Saga, Kyoto. When boys and girls reached the 13th birthday, usually the body starts to change and this sometimes means trouble. To ward all things off the family performs the last visit to a temple of Kokuuzoo Bosatsu to give thanks for sucessfull childrearing and pray for good fortune as a grown up. The special day for this visit was the 13th of April, the Special Day (ennichi 縁日) of Kokuuzoo. On the way back from the temple, you had to cross the bridge Togetsukyoo (渡月橋) at Arashiyama and until then the child was not allowed to look back, since this would reverse all the good luck just received at the temple - at least that is the folk lore.
There is a Kokuuzoo temple in my area high up in the mountains and I remember well when my friend invited me to come with his daughter for her final child visit and celebrate her new status as "Grown up" on this fine april day.
Here is a list of all the 13 deities involved in this pilgrimage.
List of the 13 deities and their sanskirt name (juusanbutsu十三仏)
・ Fudo Myoo(Acalanatha Vidyaraja)
・ Shaka Nyorai (Shakyamuni Tathagata)
・ Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri Bodhisattva)
・ Fugen Bosatsu (Samantabhadra Bodhisattva)
・ Jizo Bosatsu (Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva)
・ Miroku Bosatsu (Maitreya Bodhisattva)
・ Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata)
・ Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva)
・ Seishi Bosatsu (Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva)
・ Amida Nyorai (Amithaba und Amitayus Tathagata)
・ Ashuku Nyorai (Aksobhya Tathagata)
・ Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana Tathagata)
・ Kokuzo Bosatsu (Akasagarbha Bodhisattva)
On the following two HPs you find more about these deities, including
separate introduction with picture and holy mantra (shingon 真言) of each
one.
http://www.shingon.org/deities/jusanbutsu/jusanbutsu.html
The main HP of the Shingon Buddhist International Institute is here: http://www.shingon.org/home.html
You find a list of Juusanmairi Temples in Kyoto
京都に十三参りのお寺のリスト：
http://www.kimura-product.co.jp/miroku2/uji13/uji.htm
And of course, on a special day you wear a special kimono, as on many other special occasions in life. Have a look at the following HP:
Muramatsu Kokuzoson (Temple)
http://www.ingjapan.ne.jp/miurasn/trip/annai2-e.htm
十三参り について
十三参りは、今から２００年前、京都嵐山の法輪寺で行われたのが始まりです。以来毎年、嵐山の桜が満開になる４月１３日に、美しく着飾った数え年で１３歳になる男女が「虚空蔵菩薩」を本尊とした法輪寺にお参りし、知恵や福徳を授けてもらおうとするもので、主に関西（京都）を中心に行われている祝い事です。１３歳で祝うのは「十二支」がひとまわりしておめでたいことに加え、肉体的にも精神的にも大人に変化する時期だからです。
女の子はこの時の晴れ着から大人と同じ本裁ちのきものを着ます。肩上げだけは残して、どこかに幼さの感じられる装いにします。母親は訪問着、紋付き色無地、江戸小紋など、子どもの晴れ着と調和させて選びます。また、この十三参りには祈願の帰り、嵐山の渡月橋を渡るまでに振り返ると、せっかく授かった福徳などを返してしまうという言い伝えあります。 少女から娘への成長を祝う儀式といえるのでしょう。
http://www.hannan-u.ac.jp/~ichi/97/tanaka/gyoji/jusanmairi.html
And in Okinawa there is the temple Daruma-ji where you can get such a talisman.
沖縄県 達磨寺 西来院〈だるまじさいらいいん〉 （那覇市）
Daruma-ji Sairai-in, Naha-City 098-884-1077
http://www.inujirushi.co.jp/map/
Now let us look at some Daruma san as Talisman for safe delivery. Here is one of the Imamura Family, celebrating the birth of son Yuuta.
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http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~TS3T-IMMR/yutaiv.htm
And this is the Daruma for safe delivery of Kosugi Family, where a healthy
girl was born.
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小林家の安産だるま
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At Imai Store, you can get a pink daruma (in the color of peach blossoms)
for safe delivery and a good relatioship with your friend. Paint one eye
when you buy it and the other one after safe delivery.
 桃：安産、良縁 |
Now there are some other interesting informations, related to Anzan,
but not to Daruma san: This is a picture of a normal talisman, usually
in the form of a little brocade bag.
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In Shimane Prefecture, there is a special festival for this occasion
on April 8th:
Anzan Taue Rituals - praying for safe birth
and rice planting, shrine officials dress up as cows and young women and
plant rice.
(Koryo Town, Yasuko Shrine 0853 431492)
http://www.joho-shimane.or.jp/cc/sic/8-0/98spring/What/01.html
At the Suitengu Shrine, you can order this pink talisman online.
安産祈願に水天宮へ
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http://member.nifty.ne.jp/ysz/suitengu.html
And on this HP you can order your Talisman for almost anything online,
they offer a great variety for all occasions in a lifetime:
オンラインで注文する 安産の御守り
生まれてくるすべての生命と母体を災いから守ります。
http://www.e-omamori.com/
宝物：白玉（二十四顆 水晶製）
後一条天皇中宮藤原威子（ふじわらのいし）が玉のような皇子を出産された奉賽（ほうさ い）（御礼））に長元七年（1034年）に 奉納されたものです。 鹿島の大神（おおかみ）はものごとのスタートを司る神様、生成発展を司る神様なので古来根強い安産信仰があり神功皇后（じんぐう こうごう）が奉納された常陸帯（披見不可）は、安産のお守りとして、とても有名です
http://www.bokuden.or.jp/~kashimaj/homotu03.htm
Here are some Talismans from Awashima Shrine, on the right for good health
during pregnancy and on the left for easy delivery:
和歌山市加太 淡嶋神社社務所 TEL : 073-459-0043
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So there is a connection with Daruma and a safe delivery. Usually the
Buddhist deities Kannon Bosatsu or Jizoo Bosatsu are responsible for problems
with children. But Anzan Talismans may even have been used during the
Yayoi Period, check this:
弥生時代にも安産お守り？詳しくはここ：
http://www.st.rim.or.jp/~adachima/sinpou2000.2.19.1.html
When we were pregnant with the idea of buying an old farmhouse, a priest at Daisen Shrine told me to buy his Anzan Mamori. “It is not only good for birth, but for anything new you start, a business or something. So try this one!” And he was right: after just two months (very fast and seldom in this part of the traditional countryside) we bought our new home, Paradise Hermitage (GokuRakuAn) and have lived happily ever after with this new CHILD Venture!
gokuraku@po.harenet.ne.jp
