| The statue is believed to have originated
in the year 730, when Gyoki visited the area
and carved a thousand-armed Goddess statue,
enshrining it in one of the caves nearby.
The statue was regarded as a place of religious
faith by travelers on the Tokaido road between
Tokyo and Nagoya. A statue was erected at
the top of Mt. Iwaya in 1765, but was later
dismantled and used in the war effort. A new
statue was constructed in 1950. Paintings
on the ceiling of the Kannondo Hall on the
south side of the mountain were drawn by Ishimine
Onda and other Yoshida (the former name of
Toyohashi) artists. |
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