Kumano Gongen

, also known as , is a Japanese deity associated with Kumano Shrines.

The god is made of 12 smaller gods. Each small god has a Shinto and a Buddhist part,.

This idea is like the worship of Kasuga-no-Kami which inspired people to worship this god that way.

There are two common ways to group the gods:

- – all 12 gods.
- – just the three main gods.

## Origins

People felt the Kumano area was holy even before written history. They went there to pray and to heal their bodies.

Originally each shrine first worshipped nature in its own way. In the 900s, under Buddhism, the three shrines joined their beliefs.

At that time Japanese people thought Shinto gods were forms of Buddhist buddhas. This mix of Shinto and Buddhism is called _shinbutsu-shūgō_.

Each Kumano god was linked to a buddha:

- Kumano Musubi → Thousand-Armed Kannon
- Hayatama → Medicine Buddha
- Ketsumi → Amida Buddha

The three mountains were linked to different Pure Lands
- Hongū is linked to the Western Pure Land.
- Shingū is linked to the Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli.
- Nachi is linked to the Southern Pure Land of Potalaka.

From the Heian period (794-1185) on, people started to see all Kumano as a Pure Land. Scholars still debate which gods the shrines first worshipped.

## The 12 gods

These are the 12 gods of Kumano

|Shrine Pavilion|Deity|Original Buddha|Statue Type|||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Three goups|colspan="2"|Deity group|Number|Translation|Original|||||||
|rowspan="4"|Upper Four Shrines|rowspan="3"|Three Gongen|rowspan="2"|Ryōsho Gongen|First Pavilion|Nishi-no-miya (Yui-miya)|西宮（結宮）|Izanami-no-Mikoto・Kumano Musubi Okami・Kotoamatsukami|Thousand-Armed Kannon||
|Second Pavilion|Chū-no-miya (Hayatama Myōjin)|中宮（早玉明神）|Izanagi-no-Ōkami・Hayatama no Okami|Medicine Buddha||||||||
|Shōjō Gongen|Third Pavilion|Jōsō (Ketsumi Ōji)|丞相（家津王子）|Susanoo-no-Mikoto・Ketsumi Mikoto Okami|Amitābha|||||||
|colspan="2" rowspan="5"|Five|Fourth Pavilion|Wakamiya|若宮|Amaterasu Ōmikami (Nyakuichi Ōji)|||||||
|rowspan="4"|Middle Four Shrines|Fifth Pavilion|Zenji-miya|禅児宮|Ame-no-oshihomimi|Ksitigarbha|Dharma Form (or Human form)|||||
|Sixth Pavilion|Sei-miya|聖宮|Ninigi-no-Mikoto|Nagarjuna||||||||
|Seventh Pavilion|Ko-miya|児宮|Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto|Cintāmaṇicakra||||||||
|Eighth Pavilion|Komori-miya|子守宮|Ugayafukiaezu|Āryāvalokiteśvara||||||||
|rowspan="4"|Lower Four Shrines|colspan="2" rowspan="4"|Four Myōjin|Ninth Pavilion|Ichiman-miya・ Jūman-miya|一万宮・ 十万宮|Kagu-tsuchi|Manjushri・Samantabhadra||||
|Tenth Pavilion|Meiji Kongō|米持金剛|Haniyasu-hime-no-Mikoto|Vaishravana||||||||
|Eleventh Pavilion|Higyō Yasha|飛行夜叉|Mizuhanome-no-Mikoto|Fudō Myōō||||||||
|Twelfth Pavilion|Kanjō Jūgosho|勧請十五所|Wakumusubi-no-Mikoto|Shakyamuni Tathāgata||||||||
Some believers count Nachi Falls as a thirteenth holy spot and god.

Others believe the god Kumanokusubi is the main god, not Izanami. Kumanokusubi is the fifth son of Amaterasu and the god of Kumano-taisha.

## In popular culture

There is a character of the same name in the game Tokyo Afterschool Summoners.

## Related pages

- Kasuga-no-Kami

## Sources

- D. Max Moerman, _Localizing Paradise: Kumano Pilgrimage and the Religious Landscape of Premodern Japan_. Harvard University Press, 2004.
- Moerman, David (1997). The ideology of landscape and the theater of state: Insei pilgrimage to Kumano (1090–1220), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 24 (3-4), 347-374

## Other websites

- Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau
- A traditional depiction of Kumano Gongen

## Infobox (deity)

- **image**: Three-storied_Pagoda_of_Seiganto-ji_and_Nachi_Falls_201808.jpg
- **caption**: Three-storied Pagoda of Seiganto-ji and Nachi Falls
- **name**: Kumano Gongen
- **cult centre**: Kumano Kodō
- **cult center**: Kumano Kodō