If, Dear Reader, you have followed my reviews in the order recommended this will be your ‘final stop’ in Gundagai – though you should not take that term to literally as I do, of course, mean your final stop before moving on to your next earthly destination. Continue reading “South Gundagai Cemetery”
On anything other than the briefest of visits to Gundagai you will hear about a ‘Captain Moonlite’. Captain Moonlite never lived in Gundagai and, from what I can ascertain, his only visit to the town was a short time he spent, at Her Majesty’s pleasure, in the former Gundagai Gaol prior to a committal hearing in the adjacent Gundagai Court House. Continue reading “Captain Moonlite And His Grave”
And now, Dear Reader, I would like, if I may, to invite you to the final resting place of some of the ‘cast’ I have introduced you to in others of my Gundagai reviews. And, no Bullocky’s Dog (on the Tuckerbox) is not buried here! Continue reading “North Gundagai Cemetery”
All Saints Anglican Church – Ainslie
Those who have read my Sydney review – Rookwood Cemetery – Train Stations – will be aware that there is more than a passing resemblance between Rookwood Cemetery’s Gothic Ecclesiastic style Mortuary Receiving Station No. 1 and All Saints Anglican Church here in the Canberra suburb of Ainslie. Continue reading “From Train Station to Parish Church”
Having made our way along the sacred path, lined with tombstones and stone lanterns (many moss covered) and tall cedar trees, for almost two kilometres from Ichinohashi Bridge through the Okunoin Cemetery we arrived at the Gobyonohashi Bridge.
Crossing this bridge brought us into the most sacred part of Okunoin, an area where photography, eating and drinking is prohibited – a very holy place for the Japanese. Continue reading “Okunoin – The Inner Sanctum”
As you cross the Tamagawa stream via the Gobyonohashi bridge to enter the most sacred part of Okunoin Cemetery which contains the mausoleum of the founder of Shingon Buddhism – Kukai (Kobo Daishi) – look, to your left, into the stream. Continue reading “Remembering The Children In Okunoin”
Prior to crossing the Gobyonohashi Bridge and entering into the most sacred part of Okunoin, where the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, is located, you will come across a row of bronze statues, These mostly depict the Bodhisattva Jizo who looks after children, travellers, and the souls of the deceased, particularly those of deceased children. Continue reading “Mizumuke Jizo In Okunoin”
Regular readers of my reviews will know that I enjoy visiting old cemeteries for the fascinating insight they provide in terms of social history and, for the more famous cemeteries, the opportunity to visit the graves of well known people from history. Continue reading “Folklore within Okunoin”
One of the things that stood out when we visited the Okunoin Cemetery was the abundance of small, childlike statues/memorials dressed in mostly red hats, red bibs and other children’s clothing. Perhaps the blanket of white snow, in place when we visited, made them stand out more than they might otherwise have. Continue reading “Protector of Deceased Children – Okunoin”
Shingon Buddhism has been very closely tied to the State and supported by the aristocracy since its inception by Kobo Daishi in 816. The latter association giving rise to the term ‘Aristocratic Buddhism’. While many temples in the Danjo Garan (seperate reviews), and elsewhere in Koyasan, were built at the request of, or in memory of, former Japanese Emperors, high ranking military officials and the like, nowhere are these associations more evident than here in the Okunoin Cemetery. Continue reading “The State, Aristocracy, Big Business and Okunoin”
The Rambling Wombat 