The "Sento Kuyo" ceremony, in which candles are offered to approximately 8,000 abandoned Buddha statues, began on the night of August 24, 2024 at Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple in Saga Toriimoto, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City. Countless flames flickered in the precincts in late summer, and worshippers gently put their hands together.
Adashino was once known as a funeral ground on the outskirts of Kyoto, and there were many stone Buddha statues and stone towers to mourn the dead. It is said that during the Meiji period, abandoned stone Buddha statues were collected at Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple with the cooperation of local residents, and the Sento Kuyo ceremony began.
The memorial service began just after 6 p.m., and the monks walked around "Sainokawara," where stone Buddha statues and other items are lined up, chanting sutras. A mother and daughter, a female civil servant (55 years old) and a female graduate student (23 years old), who visited the temple, said, "We happened to find out about the event and stopped by. We put our hands together in the hope that our ancestors might be there."
